I am glad to welcome dear users to my blog page. Many jargons from the global network have become a part of our lives. Such memes include kek, trouble, life hack, trolling, and so on. However, among all the common and increasingly popular Internet jargons in RuNet, “dog” ranks first.
This icon, familiar to the entire Internet audience, has an official name - “commercial at”, and it looks like this: @. On the network it is used to indicate an address. It is used to separate the username and hostname. Therefore, everyone who has visited any website at least once has come across it. However, it is called differently in different countries:
- Holland - monkey and tail, in the original apenstaartje;
- Ukraine is a dog;
- Spain - arroba, which means a measure of weight;
- Italy - snail, the original word is chiocciola;
- China - mouse;
- Denmark - elephant trunk and other names;
- Germany - the tail or ear of a monkey;
- Israel - strudel.
This is only a small part of the names of the @ symbol in different countries, and in Russia for most users it is a “dog”. Despite its fame, few people know why “dog” is called that. The symbol is called this way all the time when, for example, they dictate their email address in a personal conversation or on the phone. All people have long been accustomed to this. Therefore, the other interlocutor understands everything and correctly writes down the announced email address.
An exception may be a foreigner, who is likely to be stunned unless he lives in Russia or constantly communicates with Russian people. The whole point is that the @ sign is called “dog” exclusively by Russian-speaking users. The history of the appearance of this symbol in the addresses of electronic mailboxes and on the “keyboard” of the computer is also interesting. This is exactly what I will talk about next.
Correct pronunciation of the @ sign
Russians almost always say the word “dog” when they dictate their email address. It continues to represent the main official channel for contacts. Even a large number of instant messengers from different developers does not affect the popularity of email. Using email, users often send official letters and exchange various media files, including photos and short videos.
When an email address is transmitted verbally, it is at this moment that the so-called “dog” problem appears. However, it is absent when writing an email on paper or when sending it via SMS message. The problem is that the word “dog” is like a curse word in certain situations. Therefore, many people have to think twice before pronouncing it. At the same time, some of them have a question: “why does the @ sign have such a name?”
To fully answer this question, you need to figure everything out in order. So, the @ symbol is really called a “dog”. This jargon is confirmed by the use of this word both on television and in the press. However, the means mass media are not always exemplary role models for expressing their thoughts and even behavior. Therefore, everyone needs to know how the @ symbol is officially called, so that if necessary, you can quickly convey to your interlocutor what you mean if, for example, he is a foreigner.
At the official level, the @ sign is correctly pronounced as “eth”. English-speaking users refer to it as “at”. This is where the pronunciation comes from. And in English given word represents a preposition. Translated into Russian, it can have different meanings. This directly depends on the phrase constructed. Therefore, in standard encodings, the character “dog” is indicated as “commercial at”.
The English “at” translated into Russian means location. However, it can still be used as a preposition, for example, “in”, “by”, “on”, and in some cases this English word can be used as "about". Due to this translation, the @ symbol was chosen to represent email addresses. And here everything falls into place. So, having an email address, for example, it can be broken down into categories: a user whose name is 12751013 on the mail.ru server.
However, we need to return to the question: “why is at commercial?” Because the British, one of the most meticulous accountants in the world, began to use the @ symbol as an abbreviation of the preposition “at” when preparing accounting documents several centuries ago. For example, 11 rolls of fabric @ 2000 rubles = 22000 rubles. In other words, 11 rolls for 2000 rubles. will cost 22,000 rubles. This is why at is generally considered a commercial pretext.
Its use became so commonplace that with the invention of typewriters on such devices, the @ symbol received its own place among numbers and punctuation marks. Subsequently, with the advent of personal computers, which inherited the layout from typewriters, the “dog” sign also began to be used on the keyboard. Now you know the path from the appearance of the @ symbol to the beginning of its use in designating email addresses that appeared in the 2nd half of the 20th century.
So, after all, for what reason was “dog” chosen to share the email address? Here we need to clarify that this symbol is used not only in email, but also when writing a URL. In the latter case, @ is used to separate the login and password from the address of a specific page. However this method URL entries are rarely used.
The @ sign also found a home on Twitter. See him in this social network, which is a popular miniature blogging, is possible when a reply message is typed. This symbol must be written before the name of the responding user. After that, it migrated to modern templates for forums and other social platforms.
It was mentioned earlier that the use of @ when writing an email address is quite logical in connection with the meaning of the preposition at. In other words, a person can voice his email as follows: ivanov on mail.ru. This pronunciation of the email address does not contradict any rules and is 100% correct!
It is worth noting that it was the programmer Tomlinson who came up with the idea of recording email in the form it is now. This designation first appeared in 1971. Using the @ symbol, the username was separated from the server.
When the Russian layout is used on the computer, then to write “dog” you must first switch to English language. This action is performed using special keys. For such purposes, use the combination Shift + ALT. Shift + Control is also often used. In addition, switching can be done by clicking the language icon on the taskbar and selecting the desired layout.
Why was the name “dog” chosen?
There are different versions of why it is customary to call the @ sign “dog” in RuNet:
- The symbol is very similar to a dog curled up in a ball.
- The abrupt pronunciation of “at” sounds a little like a dog barking.
- If you strain your imagination and look closely at the outline of the sign, then you can see almost all the letters that are needed to write the word “dog”. The exception is "k".
In addition to these options, there is one legend. It has romantic overtones. So, many decades ago, when the first computers were large devices with displays that were all text, people played the game "Adventure" ( English name"Adventure") In it, users went through a maze created by a PC. They needed to find treasures while killing various creatures living underground.
Symbols such as “-”, “+” and “!” were used to draw the maze on the monitor. At the same time, to designate the player, treasures and monsters they used different signs and letters. The game also included a dog, who was the faithful assistant of the person playing. He usually carried out reconnaissance in the maze at the player's command. But it was the @ symbol that was used to denote it.
This legend is silent about whether it is the reason for the appearance of the name “dog” for the @ sign. It is also worth mentioning that among Russian-speaking users this symbol is also called:
- frog;
- ram;
- dog;
- bun;
The familiar name for the @ sign in Russia appeared in the 80s of the 20th century. At this time, computerization of the population began in the country. During this period, people in Russia began to gradually become familiar with what e-mail is. And then these were exclusively selected users.
Instead of a conclusion
Do you want to learn how to write articles and make money online? Right now I am recruiting for free training using the author’s methodology. MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH PAVL YAMBU
None of us today will be able to 100% understand exactly why the “dog” sign is called that. Time is lost and the tails will not be found. The name of the @ symbol has already become a tradition: I say this because everyone says it. Should we continue to use this name? Some may fundamentally disagree with this. Some people, on the contrary, believe that the name “dog” makes us all mysterious individuals in the eyes of users from other countries, with the exception of the CIS countries (perhaps only for the time being).
However, foreigners are also not far behind us. Instead of “this,” they use some of their own names, for example, snail. In many countries, users associate the @ symbol with an animal, in other countries - with a herring roll or a delicious strudel.
But you, my readers, will now know exactly what is hidden behind the little squiggle in your e-mail address.
The dog icon, familiar to every netizen, has existed much longer than email. But only with the advent of the Internet did the rounded “squiggle” become widely known: every day 2 billion times @ takes its place between the sender’s name and the server’s domain name. Who and how guessed to put a dog icon in the email address? And why a dog?
Once upon a time, when (oh, horror!) there was no email, no computers, or even electricity, all books were filled out by hand. No, then the dog badge was not written in the address, but it performed a quite noble function: it saved the time of the clerks who worked painstakingly in semi-darkness, in a half-bent position and holding the paper on their knees. Why in such an awkward position remains a mystery. But if you imagine several hours in this position, and working with pen and ink, it becomes clear how much easier the work was made by all kinds of ligatures.
The dog icon is read in English as “At”, which is translated into Russian as “on, in, by”. This sign denoted belonging to something, was used in stock accounts, and today more often indicates a specific place or event. In the Middle Ages, instead of “At” they used the preposition “Ad” - to, at, on, at, before. And the letter “d” was decorated with a long tail thrown to the left. The ligature @ was formed by merging the letters “a” and “d”, and, by and large, the history of the creation of the dog icon is the history of medieval writing in Europe.
In Brazil, Spain and Portugal, a similar symbol denoted a measure of weight and volume equal to one arrobe. And although historians doubt that it was the same @, the capital “A” with a curl, decorating jugs of wine or oil, really resembles an electronic “dog”.
Before you put the dog icon, translate your keyboard to English. language. Then, while holding shift, press the number 2. If you are working in Word, open insert - symbol - “symbols” tab, select “plain text - basic Latin”. In Unicode, @ is represented by the number 0040, and in Morse code by the symbol set: dot - dash - dash - dot - dash - dot.
Every European merchant who lived during the Renaissance knew perfectly well how to write the dog icon in the most advantageous way: a twisted, elegant @ was located in front of the price of the product, and was supposed to attract the attention of passers-by. Later, this ligature began to be used in accounting, for example: 12p @ 6 $ - 12 pieces for 6 dollars.
The following fact is not directly related to the dog icon, but is so curious that it would be wrong not to mention it. In the 15th century, when post offices in hometown We never even dreamed that letters were delivered by foot or horse messengers. They notified the population of their arrival by blowing a horn similar to the one used by merchants, traveling performers, etc. From the end of the XVI - early XVII centuries Horns were banned from being used by everyone except postmen. Today, the image of crossed postal horns can be seen on envelopes, stamps, postcards, etc. The simple instrument has become a symbol of mail, recognizable all over the world. So, the dog icon in the address closely resembles the outline of a horn, which is undoubtedly an interesting coincidence. And how interesting it turned out: the symbol
“virtual” mail accidentally repeated the outline of the real mail symbol!
On the web, it is used as a separator between the username and hostname in email address syntax.
Some figures in the Internet space call this symbol “one of the main pop symbols of our time, a sign of our common communication space.” Somewhat pompous, in my opinion, but the worldwide recognition of this symbol, and, as is sometimes even noted, “canonization” is evidenced by the following fact. In February 2004, the International Telecommunication Union introduced a Morse code for the @ symbol (. - - . - .) to facilitate the transmission of email addresses. The code combines the Latin letters A and C and reflects their joint graphic writing.
The search for the origins of the @ symbol takes us back at least to the 15th century, and perhaps even further, although linguists and paleographers still disagree on this issue.
Professor Giorgio Stabile put forward this hypothesis. A 16th-century document written by a Florentine merchant mentioned “the price of one A of wine” (possibly an amphora). At the same time, the letter A, according to the then tradition, was decorated with a curl and looked like @. American scientist Berthold Ullman suggested that the @ sign was invented by medieval monks to shorten the Latin word “ad”, which was often used as a universal word meaning “on”, “in”, “in relation to”, etc. In Spanish, Portuguese, French The name of the symbol comes from the word “arroba” - an old Spanish measure of weight, ca. 15 kg., which is abbreviated in writing as the @ sign.
The modern official name of the symbol "commercial at" takes its origin from bills, for example, 7 widgets @ $2 each = $14, which translates to 7 pieces. 2$ = 14$. Since this symbol was used in business, it was placed on typewriter keyboards and from there migrated to the computer.
We owe the spread of this symbol across the Internet to the forefather of email, Tomlinson. He was the same person who chose the @ symbol. When asked much later why he chose this particular icon, he replied simply: “I was looking for a character on the keyboard that could not appear in any name and cause confusion.”
Tomlinson needed such a symbol during the period when he was working on creating a messaging system on the Arpanet network (the ancestor of the Internet). Essentially, he had to come up with a new addressing scheme that would identify not only the recipients, but also the computers on which their mailboxes were located. To do this, Tomlinson needed a separator, and his, in general, random choice fell on the @ sign. The first network address was tomlinson@bbn-tenexa.
In Russia, users most often call the “@” symbol “dog,” which is why e-mail addresses derived from personal names and surnames sometimes take on an unexpected connotation. It is curious that this symbol is used in their work by both folk talents (for example, the joke: “The dog is missing, don’t offer @”), and official jokers - KVN players (for example, “ [email protected]"). But still: why “dog”?
There are several versions of the origin of this funny name.
Firstly, the icon really does look like a curled up dog.
Secondly, the abrupt sound of the English “at” is a bit like a dog barking.
Thirdly, with a fair amount of imagination, you can see in the outline of the symbol almost all the letters included in the word “dog”, well, with the exception of “k”.
But the most romantic is the following legend: “Once upon a time, when computers were large and displays were exclusively text-based, there lived a popular game with the simple name “Adventure.” Its point was to travel through a computer-generated labyrinth in search of treasures and battles with harmful underground creatures. In this case, the labyrinth on the screen was drawn with the symbols “!”, “+” and “-”, and the player, treasures and hostile monsters were designated by various letters and icons. Moreover, according to the plot, the player had a faithful assistant - a dog, who could be sent into the catacombs for reconnaissance. And it was, of course, indicated by the @ sign.”
Whether this was the root cause of the now generally accepted name, or, on the contrary, the icon was chosen because it was already called that way - the legend is silent about this.
To be fair, it should be noted that in Russia “dog” is also called doggie, frog, bun, ear, ram and even muck. In other countries, this symbol is associated with various objects.
Below is far from full list what the "@" symbol is called in other countries.
- Bulgaria - "klomba" or "maymunsko a" (monkey A)
- Netherlands - "apenstartje" (monkey tail)
- Israel - "strudel" (swirl)
- Spain, France, Portugal - "arroba", "arrobase" (measure of weight)
- Germany - monkey tail, monkey ear, monkey, paper clip
- Italy - chiocciola" (snail)
- Denmark, Norway, Sweden - “snabel-a” (snout a) or elephant trunk (a with trunk)
- Czech Republic, Slovakia - rollmops (marinated herring)
- America is a cat
- China, Taiwan - mouse
- Türkiye - rosette
- Serbia - “crazy a” or maimun (monkey)
- Vietnam - "crooked a"
- Ukraine - “ravlik” (snail), “doggie” or “doggie”, “mavpochka” (monkey)
- Poland, Croatia, Romania, Slovenia, Holland - "malpa" (monkey)
- Finland - cat's tail
- Greece - not enough pasta
- Hungary - worm, mite
- Latvia - "et"
- Russia - besides the dog - a dog, a frog, a bun, an ear and a quack.
As you can see, for many peoples the @ sign evokes an association with a comfortably nestled animal, for some with a delicious strudel or herring roll, the poetic Turks compared it to a flower, but the disciplined Japanese use the English “attomark” without any poetic comparisons.
What is the name of the character used for separating in an email address? Why did they even come up with such a designation and where did such a name come from? What is the official name of @? And what do they call “a with a squiggle” in other countries of the world?
The well-known sign most often used to indicate an email address is called “dog”. The official name for this @ symbol is “commercial et”, from the English. "commercial at".
The history of the @ sign - electronic dog
Previously, in America, this sign was used as an abbreviation when describing the price and terms of sale of a product. 5 widgets @ $4 each = $20 (5 products for $4 each). In fact, you can still find a similar inscription today.
Due to the constant use of typewriters in commercial industries, the sign “moved” to the keyboard of the device. Later, with the development of technology, the “dog” appeared on the keys of a personal computer.
By the way, the process of development and implementation of @ into life took place in the West. We have received an already modified keyboard with the existing @ sign.
Why was the name “dog” assigned to the sign?
Such a funny, but already familiar verbal designation was attached due to its resemblance to a dog during sleep. The capital letter “a” with an open ring almost completely follows the contours of a curled up dog.
In addition to the visual similarity, the name “dog” has firmly established itself in the RuNet thanks to its simple pronunciation, distinct sound and clear association.
What was the name of the dog sign - @
In the 90s, when the Internet was at the very beginning of its development, this funny symbol was given a variety of names: snail, ear, monkey’s tail and even a worm. Some people called @ in the old fashioned way - the letter “a” with a tail, and others called it a squiggle. By the way, such a funny name in all seriousness became attached to the symbol in some countries.
Names of electronic "dog" in different countries
Continuing the theme about the most interesting names, the Czech interpretation of "dog" should be mentioned. In this small European country the symbol is called zavinach. What does fish roll mean? Of course, the “electronic dog” is also called “zavinach” in Slovakia.
In Germany, it was decided to call it “monkey tail”. The same name “walks” in the neighboring Netherlands and more distant Poland.
In Italy the name “snail” was attached, just like in Spain. And the Turks gave the sign “dog” a romantic one – “rose”.
Now you know what the circumpolar and once unusual @ sign is called. Tell your friend what the sign is officially called " e-dog" - "commercial fl". We are sure he will be surprised!
Every Internet user has probably encountered the “dog” icon, because it is associated with email. It is also now perceived as the closest association with the entire global Internet. They tried to give this symbol a simpler name, for example: “ear”, “frog” and so on; in the 90s they even called it “bun”, but, unfortunately, they never managed to gain a foothold. In Russian, he is given the unspoken name of our four-legged friend, since he looks like this curled up animal. This is one of the answers to the question why the icon was called “dog”. In other countries, this symbol is also associated with various objects or animals, as discussed below.
Dog icon in other countries
What is this icon called in other languages? Each nation has its own mentality and associations, so the names of the same “dog” icon vary greatly. Did you know that in the Netherlands they used to call this sign a “monkey’s tail”, in Israel – a “strudel”, and in Italy even a “snail”. In the countries of the Scandinavian Peninsula (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), the familiar “dog” is called “elephant trunk” or “pig tail”, but there is also a spare name - “twisted harp”. In Hungary they are unflatteringly called "worm" or "mite". The Greeks call it “duck”, America and Finland usually call it “cat”, and in China and Taiwan, in contrast to the post-Soviet space, it is called “mouse”, and in Turkey even “rose”. The Japanese identify it with the forces of nature and talk about this sign as a “whirlpool”, the Kazakhs - “moon echo”. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, it is customary to call the sign “rollmops” (herring roll with marinade).
Esperanto language and postal symbol
Esperanto is an artificially created language that unites the whole world. It was invented by the Polish ophthalmologist Ludwik Zamenhof in 1887. The plans of its creator were to introduce this language for international communication, make it second after the native one for every inhabitant of the globe. So, in the Esperanto language this icon is called heliko - “snail”.
The International Telecommunication Union introduced a Morse code for this symbol @ ( - - - ) in 2004 to make email easier to use. This code contains the Latin characters A and C, graphically displayed together. By the way, this was the only major change that was made to Morse code since World War II.
Origin and nature of the sign
It is still unknown exactly where this symbol came from. The roots of its “pedigree” are lost in hoary antiquity, but still scientists insist that it appeared at least in the 15th century, and maybe even earlier. All linguists and paleographers are at a loss and cannot establish one true version of the origin of this simple, uncomplicated icon. Here are some popular assumptions:
- The following version is very common in the world. The @ symbol is said to have been invented by medieval monks. The first such letter “a” with a long curled tail was used by the Byzantine chronicler Constantine Manasses in 1345 instead of the letter “a” in the word “Amen”. But why this was done, scientists have not figured out.
- Also, many are sure that this badge was borrowed from merchants, since they had their own counting system, which looked like this: “1 meter of silk @” (fictional example) - this meant that 1 meter of silk sold for 5 dollars. The advantage of such a recording was its versatility, so any transactions could be made without deep knowledge of the language and unnecessary words.
- Professor Giorgio Stabile found a mention in a 16th-century document of "one A of wine", possibly referring to an amphora. Most likely, the letter A, according to the traditions of that time, was decorated with a curl and looked like something similar to our @ icon. This document dates back to 1536.
- The "dog" icon in English represents the preposition at (on).
- Also, the American Berthold Ullman argued that this sign was invented by monks in the Middle Ages in order to shorten the Latin preposition ad, a kind of universal word that took on the meaning of any preposition or allied word (on, in, about, about, to, according to, in relation to, because , also and so on). This easy trick helped save ink and paper - luxury items that were very difficult to obtain in those days.
- The French, Spaniards and Portuguese used this symbol on the letter to designate “arroba” - a measure of weight that is numerically approximately equal to 15 kilograms.
- A similar sign was even found in Russian books in the 16th and 17th centuries. Specifically, on the title page of the Code of Law of Ivan the Terrible, which was published in 1550. It was decorated with a curl capital letter"az" of the Cyrillic writing system, which denoted the first point.
Additional versions
There is also such an interesting coincidence. In the 16th century, messengers who were responsible for delivering mail used a postal horn. Previously, they were used by butchers to mark their arrival in a certain area to buy animals, but already in 1712 the horn was assigned only to postmen and was prohibited from being used by others. In Germany, horse mail was also equipped with horns. Even now you can see such horns on various emblems and logos that are somehow related to the post office. This horn and the @ icon are a bit similar.
Keyboard icon
The “dog” icon smoothly migrated from typewriters, as it was actively used in trade and related calculations, denoting various prepositions. The first model of the American Underwood typewriter was already equipped with an @ key in 1885.
Internet and "dog"
Internet users should thank programmer Tomlinson, the creator of email. But what does the “dog” icon mean on the World Wide Web? A sign was needed that would not appear in any given name or surname, to avoid confusion in the separation of the user name and the email server, so that there would be no obstacles in the identification process. The choice fell on the already well-known @ icon. Thus, the first email on the Arpanet network was called tomlinson@bbn-tenexa and the “dog” icon on the keyboard became one of the most popular symbols.
Why is such a symbol needed?
But why does any email address have to include the @ symbol? Is this a necessity or just another fashion trend?
The first option is correct. Let's figure out why.
The mail server in the login is a domain name. It is better to illustrate this with an example. Email address available [email protected](completely random and fictitious login). In this case, humanpower is the username, and arpa.com is the domain name, the @ symbol represents the English preposition "at" and indicates the location of the login, that is, humanpower on arpa.com.
What happened before Tomlinson?
Before Ray Tomlinson, this icon was used only in creating programs in the languages PHP (the “dog” is used to suppress the display of errors, as well as warnings that may appear during program execution), Java (used to declare an annotation), Perl (to define an array ) and Transact-SQL. If it weren’t for the creator of the mail, this icon would not be used so actively among ordinary Internet users.
In general, after its creation, the ARPANET network did not gather many fans; they did not trust it and did not want to use it. But in 1977 there was a huge breakthrough forward in the history of development World Wide Web - this network made it possible to send various letters around the world. It was thanks to Tomlinson that the long and slow sending of postal letters around the world was extremely simplified. It has become very easy to receive and send any files, documents and images in a matter of seconds.
Why "dog"?
There are many funny versions of why the icon is named “dog”. In addition to the main version mentioned at the beginning of the article, the preposition at sounds like a dog barking.
But they agree that this happened due to one of the first computer games"Adventure". It was a popular game in the eighties. And the essence of the game was to overcome the labyrinth and reach the depths where the treasures were hidden. There were no graphics familiar to our eyes, since all displays of that time were text. Even simple signs (!, +, -, etc.) were used to indicate obstacles. Was in the game main character and the dog was his assistant, which could be used to scout the territory. It was precisely this that was indicated by the @ sign. But no one will tell you whether the sign is named after a character or the character is named after a sign.
It will no longer be known exactly where this name came from, but nevertheless, this icon on the computer has firmly entered our lives.
How to enter the "dog" icon on the keyboard
Everyone knows that the @ symbol on the keyboard is located on the number 2 in the top row of numbers. But you won't get it just like that. You need to switch the keyboard layout from Russian to English. Then hold down the Shift button and simultaneously press the number 2. And you're done, send your letter!
Unlike complex operations with the "dog" icon on the computer, on phones and various handheld gadgets, this icon is available on the symbol keyboard and next to numbers and punctuation marks.
After talking about how to type the "dog" icon on your keyboard, you might be interested to know that it is used for more than just a mailbox name. Namely:
At first, a cursory and uninterested glance, a discussion of some simple icon seems ridiculous and pointless, but it is precisely such topics that should arouse the greatest interest. After all, behind something ordinary there is a huge painstaking work or a long mysterious complicated story, as in our case. That's how many interesting details were hidden in the little @ mail icon. We hope that our article expanded your horizons and you learned something new.