Why the Ampersand
Woodblock prints, Nathaniel Haefner’s Grand Ampersand exhibition, 2017.
June 8, 2025
Ampersands are elegant.
Although the ampersand dates back to the 1st century AD and is technically a stylized ligature—not quite the same as a form of punctuation—its usage and modern history are tied to the advent of the printing press in 15th-century Europe. As such, we tend to categorize the ampersand with punctuation marks, as among the sturdy hardware that gives language its shape and structure. Words without form are liquid, an ocean of thoughts run together. The breaks and spaces and pauses give that ocean of self a frame so we can look at it, take it in, and glean its meaning.
Ampersands are a symbolic abbreviation for the word and.
And is one of a number of coordinating conjunctions in the English language, and, but, or, and so being the most common. The purpose of a coordinating conjunction is to indicate a relationship, to connect two or more distinct, equally important entities. And, however, is the only coordinating conjunction that builds a bridge between those different things.
And is inclusive. It doesn’t frame ideas as hierarchical (but), binary (or), or causal (so). At the same time, and is expansive. As an indicator of an addition, it connotes discovery. Its open-ended, embracing nature points you in the direction of exploration and imagination. In doing so, and emphasizes process, not outcome.
By virtue of its literal meaning and function, and is collaborative. Its purpose is to remind us of the world’s abundance, of all the ways in which we already have more, as well as the ways we can create and accomplish more. More ideas, more choices, more meaning, more justice, more joy. And brings disparate things together to become more than the sum of their parts.
And tells us that for every journey we want to take, there’s more than one path. More than one solution for every challenge. More than one way, perhaps infinite ways, to tell a story.
And is about possibility.
One thing that distinguishes the ampersand from the promising word it symbolizes: Both suggest collaboration, but even more than the word and, & indicates partnership. Its most common appearances:
- Business names use an ampersand to link individual names or words as partners.
- Abbreviations of phrases that inextricably bind one noun to another are often linked by an ampersand: R&B, R&D, B&B.
Ampersands are optimistic and realistic. The ampersand tells us that we can be dreamers and doers. In this way, that little symbol is grounded in what philosopher Jonathan Lear called “radical hope.” As Lear described it, the dreams and beliefs that comprise radical hope are revolutionary and transformative because they point toward a future goodness that transcends our current ability to understand what it is. In other words, this hope’s radical essence is that it acknowledges the tumult, pain, and difficulty of our present existence and still remains adamant that something else is out there for us, something better.
Radical hope also suggests that the power of that determined and dogged adamance is partly what enables that future goodness to emerge. It proclaims that our intent in and of itself matters and empowers us when it prompts us to act, to attempt, to pursue. Radical hope makes attentive gardeners of us all. We plant and water seeds of our choosing in the belief that if we protect them, tend to them, and nurture them they will grow. It’s what songwriter Kate Bush meant by the lyrics to “Cloudbusting”:
But every time it rains
You’re here in my head
Like the sun coming out
Ooh, I just know that something good is going to happen
And I don’t know when
But just saying it could even make it happen
The ampersand represents everything that I want and love in all my collaborations, as a wordsmith, as a strategist, as an activist, as a friend, as a partner, as a human being. It encourages us to believe in and thrive in possibility—and it reminds us that our pleasure and our prospects expand when we embark on those unknown adventures together.
