29 March 2011

Strange but true. Honest.

Do you know what Croatians call the "@" symbol?  In English, it is referred to as the 'at' sign.  So we'd give our e-mail address as:  myname AT something.com.  Well, around here, they don't call it the 'at' sign.  Nope.  If you ask someone for their e-mail address, here's what you'd get:

myname MONKEY SIGN something.com.

I didn't believe this at first because I thought people were just trying to pull my leg due to my obvious foreignality (I just made up that word).  But apparently it is true that they call the @ symbol, the MONKEY SIGN and I'm told it's because the symbol looks like a monkey.

Now I've been described as a pretty creative person, but I can't make out the monkey.  Maybe a whale eye, a sort of snail, a squished bagel or a strange donut.  But the monkey remains illusive for me.  I'm guessing it'll all become clear to me once I get a handle on some more grammar (?)

It is definitely more fun to speak e-mail addresses out loud using the monkey sign.  Try saying your e-mail address out loud right now using the monkey sign. 

Tell me that didn't make you grin from ear-to-ear :-)

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey Gab,
I can't see the monkey either but I can see why they might call it a monkey sign if that makes sense.
Hope you're having a great day. I liked your blanket. You're so creative!
Susan

Gabriella said...

Calling it 'squished bagel' could be fun too!

As for my blanket...nice and warm. And already survived many trips in the washing machine!

mcn said...

It's a small monkey with a long tail. :)

Enjoy,

Darko

Gabriella said...

I still don't see the monkey part. But maybe I need glasses ;-) I still think it is a cute saying!

Anonymous said...

Hi Gabriella,
It's actualli called 'apestaartje' (monkeytail) in dutch too. In italian 'chiocciola' which i believe is a snail's house...
Best,
Gabriella