Writing tip 8: What's an ampersand and when should I use it?

The ampersand (&) is a symbolic abbreviation for the word 'and'. Historically, & was the 27th letter of the alphabet. The name comes from the words 'and, per se and'. The symbol is a stylised version of the French word 'et' (meaning 'and').

We recommend that you don't use the ampersand in the text of your normal business writing. (We often see the ampersand used randomly in text as if the writer has carelessly lapsed into shorthand!)

Use the ampersand:

• where it is part of a company name (Harris & Ford Limited)
• if space is very limited (such as in a small advertisement)
• for artistic reasons (such as in a logo)
• in some computer languages (such as in JavaScript)
• in some academic references (Johnson & Clarke, 2002).

For more interesting facts about the ampersand, check out Scribe Consulting's All about ampersands and Adobe's The ampersand.

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