I don’t care for the ampersand.
I’m sorry to disappoint all of the amper-fans out there, but it’s time that someone took a stand, an amper-stand.
The fancy symbol for a rather ordinary word does have a few good points, but it is also confusing & is often used incorrectly
Now before you accuse me of conjunction conjecture, let me say that I did a little research before writing my prose on pros and cons of our squiggly little friend.
Here are a few pluses, minuses and (hopefully) interesting tidbits about &:
It was once part of the English alphabet – I find this to be a positive, and fascinating, too. According to several articles I found, including this one from Merriam-Webster, at one time & was the 27th letter of the alphabet. I don’t quite understand why & was in the English alphabet, but I love that it used to be there. It shows that the alphabet can change and adds credence to my argument to change the alphabet to 25 letters.
The name is actually a misunderstanding – According to the definitions, when it was in the alphabet, at the end the saying was “and per se, and” which later evolved into calling it “ampersand.” Even the name is confusing!
It doesn’t really save any time to use it – It’s easier to type “and” then it is to find “&” on the keyboard.
I can’t write it – It’s far too squiggly and fancy to write.
It looks too much like a treble clef – Why are they so similar? Was that once in the alphabet, too? I won’t pretend that I remember what a treble clef means, but I know I see it in music a lot.
Why aren’t there symbols for “or” or “but”? – Why is “and” so special? I guess we have +, but it’s hard to work that into writing effectively.
If & is so great, why can’t we use it in spelling? – Maybe I would like to eat some c&y, or I would like to watch American B& St&.
You do not use the oxford comma with & – I actually see this as a +. It shows how the oxford comma is not always needed, because it apparently is not used with the ampersand.
It also looks too much like a capital cursive “E” and a capital cursive “S” – I also have a hard time writing them.
I do like how it can be used with other symbols to signify that someone is swearing – That @&#!$ ampersand is so confusing!
I made a limerick about the & – Here it is:
There once was a rodent from Amsterdam,
Who often wrote with an ampersand.
He didn’t like “and”
He thought it too bland,
For the prose that he wrote with his hamster hand.
I hope that in the future, you will refrain from using an & and use the traditional and instead. And is the best!
If you do use &, just be advised that others may think you are saying something like “M Treble Clef M” or you may cause a misunderst&ing.
Do you have any thoughts on &? Do you have any limericks? Feel free to comment below. Thanks!
nickclaussen.com 
Thank you. I have never before thought so deeply about the ampersand. And chances are, I never will again. Very interesting that it was actually part of the alphabet though. I love learning new tidbits like that.
As for limericks, I have an entire book of filthy ones in case you hadn’t heard.
https://riversworld.live/2019/05/17/have-you-ever-gotten-one-of-those-gifts/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, I’m glad I could bring this important issue to your attention. Your limerick book looks tremendous, and your post about it is very funny! Thanks
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your Limerick was a nice little chuckle. I was never really good at rhyming. There are quite a few symbols that I never really think about, it takes a special mind to delve deeply into these subjects. Thanks for taking them on for the rest of us. What is the difference between { and ] other than the direction and why do you need both. One you have to capitalize does that make it more important? The # symbol now has so many other meanings than the original.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! I really am sacrificing my time to help all of humanity with these posts. I also question the difference between the brackets. That’s a great point! Why are they both there? And the # symbol could be a whole post in itself. Thanks again!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just making sure you don’t leave anything out in your quest to help humanity.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There once was a blogger called Nick
Who asked for comments in limerick
Commenter Bryntin did try
But the effort made him cry
So he gave up because he was too thick
LikeLiked by 1 person
Note… you cannot edit comments once sent and you realise you had some glaring typos and missed out whole words that were in your head but not actually on the page…
Which gives full credence to the last line of my faulty limerick.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Note…Apparently, the person who wrote the original post can edit the comments. I didn’t know that before. Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! That is an outstanding limerick! I like it a lot.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree that it takes more time to write & than to write ‘and’. Yet when I see someone using it in the body of a text, I immediately think they are lazy. Isn’t that paradoxical?
Loved your limerick!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is humorous. We have so many redundancies in our language.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks! It was fun to write. I love learning about different words and looking for interesting items in language. Have a good day today.
LikeLiked by 1 person