From Smithsonian Magazine:
Called the “snail” by Italians and the “monkey tail” by the Dutch, @ is the sine qua non of electronic communication, thanks to e-mail addresses and Twitter handles…The origin of the symbol itself, one of the most graceful characters on the keyboard, is something of a mystery. One theory is that medieval monks…
A fun read…the once useless symbol becomes the hero of the digital generation!
// Image: a screenshot of the Wikipedia page for @