Hit the Road Ampersand!!!!!!

So, we found out this week that my boss hates ampersands (&).

In fact, he finds them soooooo repugnant that he made it a point to come and interrupt what I was doing (apparently, one of his favorite past times) to tell me about his deep-seated loathing for this pesky piece of punctuation after he saw the offender in one of the charts in an article I did this month. Now, while I am not the president of the ampersand fan club, and while I don’t think it belongs in writing unless it’s part of a brand (like a company name) … I certainly don’t hate ‘em. Frankly, they come in handy from time to time when doing graphs and charts. Anyhow, after this ampersand reprimand, I thought it was crucial that my fellow editor and my art department cronies know about this, lest someone make this serious transgression again. So, thanks to our art department, all of us now have this sign (see below) posted proudly at our work stations as a constant reminder ol’ Mr. ampersand ain’t allowed in these parts no more (unless it’s in an ad).

R.I.P Ampersand, First Century A.D.-2008

(Gone But Not Forgotten)