Author Topic: What is "@/AT in your culture ? :) (Read 2391 times)

Havoc10K · « **on:** September 06, 2011, 02:31:16 PM »

My curiosity comes from knowing several languages and "@" as in "AT" is in all languages, but people refer to it differently.
In English it is simply AT because it is accurate.
For instance, in English the address looks correctly as MyAddressIs[AT]mailbox.domain which is MyAddressIs@mailbox.domain (com,net,pl,fl,eu,en,us,whatever)

In my country the "@" is refered to as :

(click to show/hide)

Monkey

The pic is intentional there, polish people might catch on

Anyways, how is the "@" symbol in email being referred as in your country. Which ever it might be.

Be advised we can talk about those weird (sometimes) or fascinating ideas your culture has come up with, or where it came from even.
If you can, please post a picture of what it is being called in your language.

In polish example, we call it as monkey cuz it kinda does look like a monkey having her hand over head somehow.
Though I personally refer to it as "AT"

Dale08 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 06, 2011, 02:36:10 PM »

The what? A monkey?

To me "@" is only ever used in email addresses. Never, ever, seen it outside that context. On the note of symbols, I do have a tendency to always use ampersands. It always confuses the hell out of people on how to write them. While, to me they are as natural as writing any letter in the alphabet.

undetz · « **Reply #2 on:** September 06, 2011, 02:37:58 PM »

It's called "snabel-a" in Swedish, "trunk-a", because it's an 'a' with a trunk like an elephant. In Germany it's usually referred to as "at" or "ät".

Havoc10K · « **Reply #3 on:** September 06, 2011, 02:39:12 PM »

Quote from: Dale08 on September 06, 2011, 02:36:10 PM

The what? A monkey?

To me "@" is only ever used in email addresses. Never, ever, seen it outside that context. On the note of symbols, I do have a tendency to always use ampersands. It always confuses the hell out of people on how to write them. While, to me they are as natural as writing any letter in the alphabet.

You didn't get the question.

When you tell people your email address how do you say it ? in some cultures the @ symbol in the email address is being called somehow.
That is what I want to know.

@ undetz
pretty cool

an elephant

interesting

ludwigrm · « **Reply #4 on:** September 06, 2011, 02:41:44 PM »

In Italian we call it "chiocciola", which means "snail", because it vaguely resembles snails' shell.

(click to show/hide)

Dale08 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 06, 2011, 02:43:23 PM »

Quote from: Havoc10K on September 06, 2011, 02:39:12 PM

Quote from: Dale08 on September 06, 2011, 02:36:10 PM
The what? A monkey?

To me "@" is only ever used in email addresses. Never, ever, seen it outside that context. On the note of symbols, I do have a tendency to always use ampersands. It always confuses the hell out of people on how to write them. While, to me they are as natural as writing any letter in the alphabet.
You didn't get the question.

When you tell people your email address how do you say it ? in some cultures the @ symbol in the email address is being called somehow.
That is what I want to know.

Oh, sorry. Well, in that case, as long as the subject is related to emails, I've only ever heard @ being spoken as "at".

RoflLolly · « **Reply #6 on:** September 06, 2011, 02:54:14 PM »

In Germany we usually say "at". My teacher in elementary school used to say "Klammeraffe" (spider monkey), but I don't know if that is a common expression here, as he was the only one to say that as far as I can remember.

Mirgond · « **Reply #7 on:** September 06, 2011, 03:13:28 PM »

I normally say at, but i know the expression Klammeraffe... it's too long though for normal usage so it's only used in special cases.

kurandoinu · « **Reply #8 on:** September 06, 2011, 03:14:49 PM »

I don't think I've ever heard it referred to as anything but at, but I'm really interested in seeing what strange things people do call it.

Havoc10K · « **Reply #9 on:** September 06, 2011, 03:19:39 PM »

Quote from: kurandoinu on September 06, 2011, 03:14:49 PM

I don't think I've ever heard it referred to as anything but at, but I'm really interested in seeing what strange things people do call it.

Right ?
It's fascinating how some cultures come up with something for a thing that is the same thing in every language and country.

I'm waiting for more interesting things

Gotta say, so far, every example does somehow look like the @

Saras · « **Reply #10 on:** September 06, 2011, 03:49:08 PM »

We call it "Eta", it's basically a nonsense sound down here. One could argue about links with the greek η or to some mangled relationships with Esti (Archaic Lithuanian for to be) or the more likely butchered form of the English at, but it's just a sound that only refers to @ nowadays.