In dutch "@" is pronounced as "apestaartje" which means literally "monkey tail". An overview of the literal meaning of @ in different languages can be found in

In dutch "@" is pronounced as "apestaartje" which means literally "monkey tail". An overview of the literal meaning of @ in different languages can be found in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_sign#.22Commercial_at.22_in_other_languages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_sign#.22Commercial_at.22_in_... According to Wikipedia the oldest documented use of "@" is in an Italian mercantile document in 1537. [Dutch] http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/@#Ander_gebruik_van_.40 http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/@#Ander_gebruik_van_.40 [English] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_sign#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_sign#History