( 7 ) Signs and Symbols, used in English Language What is the origin of various symbols used in English, and  when is the use of each appropriate? Here’s a guide to  twelve common signs, including how they developed and  in which contexts they are used or avoided.  & (Ampersand) The ampersand was, at least until well into the nineteenth  century, treated as the twenty-seventh letter of the  alphabet, but its star has fallen, so that now it is used only informally except in registered names of businesses  (“Ay, Bee & See Inc.”), which should be written as rendered;  a