formality - Is an ampersand formal?


I've noticed that there are many companies whose names contain an ampersand. A quick Google search for "& Sons, Inc", or something similar, should yield countless examples. Though it's not common to see it used in a formal letter or bulletin, etc, it seems that the name of a company is formal indeed, and many of those do contain "&". Does this mean that ampersands can be used as formal, or that a company name is not really formal?



Answer



The ampersand should not be used in formal writing, except in special cases like names of certain companies, in which case it should be used if it is part of the name.


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