Have you guys wondered what does @ mean on TikTok? The ‘@’ (at symbol) which was once rarely used in a typewriter, is now being used everywhere from email addresses to texts and social media platforms.
The @ symbol is called ‘Snail’ by Italians and ‘Monkey Tail’ by the Dutch. We have seen many people use the At sign (@) on a daily basis through modern electronic communication or in email addresses, but what is the exact meaning of this symbol? Where did this sign originate from?
Here is everything you should know about the @ sign and its different meanings on different platforms.
What does @ mean on TikTok?
Let’s start with the meaning of the symbol @ in one of the most popular social media platforms, TikTok. The symbol ‘@’ is generally referred to as the user handle of a certain individual on TikTok.
Usernames on TikTok or in any other social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, or Facebook, are in the form of @abcxyz.
For example, a person has a name, Randal Joe. But there might be lots of people around the world with the same name. So, to create a unique and individual name on social media, he or she can make a username like @Randalljoe123 or @funrandall, etc. Such username in this form is called a handle and other people with similar names cannot have the same username and must differ by at least one character.
Thus, when someone asks you what is your @ on TikTok, then they are asking your username handle on TikTok which is your identity.
But, the meaning of @ on TikTok doesn’t just mean your username. It can also be used to mention someone.
For example, when you want to mention/tag someone on your comment either while replying to their comments or to just gain their attention to your comment you start your line with @randalljoe. Doing this automatically creates a link to their profile and they get a notification when someone mentions them in their comment or caption.
@ meaning on Texting
Now, the meaning of @ on social media platform or email addresses is one thing, but what’s the deal with this @ in texting for short forms?
It is not a new thing that people use several abbreviations while conversing through texts, but someone thought that even a two-letter word, ‘at’ should also be abbreviated. This might be the height of our laziness but believe it or not, ‘@’ symbol on texts is really the short form for ‘at’.
@ meaning on Urban Dictionary
The Urban Dictionary has different meanings for the symbol @ according to different contexts.
In an email address, @ is used as a character between the user and the host domain. For example, “example@gmail.com”
In Texts, it means ‘at’. It is also used when someone calls you out. For example, Come @ my house, @ my insta, @ me, etc.
In social media, it is used in username handles.
In computer languages, @ means java annotation which is a kind of metadata.
Sometimes, it is also used to show excitement and use ‘@’ symbol instead of ‘!’. For example, Hey guys, I won the lottery@.
Origin of the use of the symbol @
The origin of the symbol @ is somewhat mysterious. Some say it comes from the French word ‘at’ while some say it comes from the Medieval Latin word ‘toward’.
The first documented use of @ was in the 1500s, in a letter by a Florentine merchant, who used @ to denote units of wine in a large clay jar called ‘amphorae’. The use of the @ symbol in trade somehow led to its contemporary meaning of “at the price of.” For example, 2 chickens @ 20 pence.
Leave a Reply