word choice - When to use & instead of "and"


Are there rules of usage when using the ampersand "&" instead of "and"?


Are they completely interchangeable?


The ampersand seems more casual, but I'm not sure.



Answer



There are very, very few acceptable uses of & in proper written English. Here are some of them:


& is especially common when joining names to indicate a firm or a partnership, for example, a law firm:



Baker & McKenzie
Abercrombie & Fitch
Crosby Stills Nash & Young



In abbreviations, when abbreviating "and", & is often used:



AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph)
P&L (profit and loss)
R&D (research and development)



One rare usage is on envelopes addressed to a couple:



Mr. & Mrs. Jackson



&c. is a rare and somewhat archaic looking abbreviation for etc.


Other than that it is vanishingly rare to see & in formal written English, although of course in informal email, text messages, notes, and handwriting, anything goes.


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