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Interestingly, the OED's etymology suggests that "ampersand" is a corruption of "a per se and" instead of "and per se and." 1777 H. L. Thrale Diary Aug.–Sept.
by vehemenz 4y ago
Interestingly, the OED's etymology suggests that "ampersand" is a corruption of "a per se and" instead of "and per se and."
1777 H. L. Thrale Diary Aug.–Sept. in Thraliana (1942) I. 145 The Letter commonly called Ipse and and ampuse and viz &. is a corruption of a per se and [sic]: spoken very quick.
- yawboakye 4y agogiven the eventual enunciation of the word it’s more likely that the first word was ‘and’ or at least contained the n/m consonant. during a contraction between ‘a’ and ‘p’ an extra/intermediate consonant is barely needed. that is to say that ‘amp’ is more likely to come out of ‘and p’ than ‘a p’