That little "a" with a circle curling around it that is found in email addresses is most commonly referred to as the "at" symbol.

　　小寫字母“a”外加個圓圈，這一符號常出現在email（電子郵件）地址中，通常是作為“at”（在）的標記。

　　Surprisingly though, there is no official, universal name for this sign. There are dozens of strange terms to describe the @ symbol.

　　然而令人感到驚奇的是，這一標記居然沒有官方的，通用的名稱。有幾十個奇怪的術語用來描繪@這一符號。

　　Before it became the standard symbol for electronic mail, the @ symbol was used to represent the cost or weight of something. For instance, if you purchased 6 apples, you might write it as 6 apples @ $1.10 each.

　　@這一符號在成為電子郵件的標準符號之前
，曾被用來表示物品的單價或質量。例如，你買6隻蘋果。就可以寫成：六隻蘋果
，每隻@$1.10，表示每隻蘋果1.10美元。

　　With the introduction of e-mail came the popularity of the @ symbol. The @ symbol or the "at sign" separates a person's online user name from his mail server address. For instance, . Its widespread use on the Internet made it necessary to put this symbol on keyboards in other countries that have never seen or used the symbol before. As a result, there is really no official name for this symbol.

　　隨著電子郵件的使用

，@這一符號越來越普及了。符號@或“at”標記將上網用戶的姓名與其郵件的服務器地址分開。例如：。 zheyifuhaozaiyintewangshangdeguangfanshiyongshidexuduoyiqiancongweijianguohuoshiyongguotadeguojiabixuzaitamendediannaojianpanshangjiashangzheyifuhaojian，jieguozaochengzheyifuhaobingmeiyouzhenzhengdeguanfangmingcheng。

　　The actual origin of the @ symbol remains an enigma.

　　@符號的確切起源仍然是謎。

　　History tells us that the @ symbol stemmed from the tired hands of the medieval monks. During the Middle Ages before the invention of printing presses, every letter of a word had to be painstakingly transcribed by hand for each copy of a published book. The monks that performed these long, tedious copying duties looked for ways to reduce the number of individual strokes per word for common words. Although the word "at" is quite short to begin with, it was a common enough word in texts and documents that medieval monks thought it would be quicker and easier to shorten the word "at" even more. As a result, the monks looped the "t" around the "a" and created it into a circle-eliminating two strokes of the pen.

　　曆史告訴我們
，@這zhe一yi符fu號hao起qi源yuan於yu中zhong世shi紀ji僧seng侶lv疲pi勞lao的de雙shuang手shou。中zhong世shi紀ji時shi印yin刷shua機ji尚shang未wei發fa明ming，要yao出chu版ban一yi本ben書shu，每mei一yi個ge單dan詞ci的de每mei一yi個ge字zi母mu都dou得de用yong手shou工gong辛xin苦ku的de刻ke出chu來lai。從cong事shi這zhe項xiang長chang時shi間jian辛xin苦ku謄teng寫xie刻ke畫hua的de僧seng侶lv們men就jiu開kai始shi尋xun找zhao減jian少shao每mei一yi個ge常chang用yong字zi筆bi畫hua數shu的de方fang法fa。雖sui然ran“at”這zhe一yi單dan詞ci開kai始shi寫xie起qi來lai很hen短duan


，但dan它ta在zai文wen本ben和he文wen件jian中zhong頻pin繁fan出chu現xian。中zhong世shi紀ji的de僧seng侶lv們men就jiu想xiang到dao如ru果guo能neng進jin一yi步bu簡jian化hua它ta，就jiu可ke以yi寫xie起qi來lai更geng快kuai更geng容rong易yi。結jie果guo，僧seng侶lv們men就jiu在zai“a”四周畫了一個圈，從而省卻了字母“t”的兩個筆劃。