Symbol-lism Generation

The words I work with on a daily basis have developed anger issues. Much to their dismay, they are being replaced by a horrifying array of symbols. My precious words have come to grips with their domination by symbols in tweets and web addresses. But they’re prickly mad when they are casually dismissed and replaced in regular writing, not unlike the blindsided employees of a newly acquired company.

According to an informal poll of words, the biggest culprits are the evil “a” symbols -- & (the artist formerly known as and) and @ (at).

The other day, I saw an article in which bacon and eggs were described as turkey bacon & egg substitute. I have no problem with those alleged healthier options to the old standby. It’s the ampersand that’s just wrong. People worth their salt and pepper take the time to link any pair with “and.” It’s only two more keystrokes, and you don’t even have to use the shift key like you do with &.

As far as I can tell, there are only two instances where you should use an ampersand in place of “and” in sentences:

--When two screenwriters collaborate on a script, meaning they are a writing team, the Writer’s Guild of America says you should link their names with &, the symbol, in the credits.  But if the writers wrote separately, and may not have even consulted with each other, you join their names with “and.”

--If you’re using a company name, such as Smith & Wesson, whose brand name or trademark uses an ampersand, instead of “and.” Note that some brands have gotten even trickier and replaced the & with a + such as Bausch + Lomb.

As for @, the only time you should even think about using it instead of the word “at” is in a web address, twitter handle, tweet or maybe a text. Cautionary note: I’ve read that writing the sentence “I’ll meet you @ the store” will clog your arteries faster than bacon and eggs. Okay, it won’t. I made that up because I dislike @ so much.

What say ye web developers and designers who love brevity and are always pressed for space? Is it acceptable to use &, at least in menu headers and page headlines? Speak now or forever hold your piece, which is not the same as ☮.