“And” and Ampersand (“&”)

I haven’t done an english lesson in awhile, so I figured I jump back in with a very obscure topic. “And” and “&”. I’ll first start off with stating that the difference is very minor, and nearly impossible to know, in english. But as a writer, I find it VERY important. Further, the difference (though minor) can be used to very strong effect. The real ailment is more in the laziness and stupidity of these last generations of native english speakers and to that effect the degradation of english as a whole. (“OMG” is actually in some recently printed dictionaries. How pathetically sad. That states my point succinctly, to a T.)
What the difference is and how to use them, as I will show, can be very important. That said, let’s begin.

“&”, which is spoken as “and” when used in a sentence in place of “and”, is a symbol meaning “and per se and”. The symbol’s name is “ampersand”, a contraction of the aforementioned phrase. It can be used just like “and” can, in lieu of “and”. But, it should not be. This is a bastardization of its purpose.
“&” shows affinity and sympathy of two items, unlike “and” which only denotes the grouping of items. I know this is hard to understand. In fact, most english speakers do not understand the difference. So let me give three examples:

“Mark and Becka and Sherry and John went hiking together.”

“Mark, Becka, Sherry, and John went hiking together.”

“Mark & Becka and Sherry & John went hiking together.”

The first example is horrible english. Never write like this.
The second example is how the first example should be written and it is proper english.
The third example it also proper english and tells more about the people hiking than the second example. Here’s how:
Look at the second example again. Notice how it groups the four people together? This sentence only shows a grouping. Judging by the fact that they are hiking together you assume they are friends, or at the least have some type of reason they are together. It tells you there are two girls and two guys, so you can guess they are two couples going on a hike, but you can’t be sure about any of this. The sentence just doesn’t tell you enough for you to make a guess.
However, example three does. Look at it again. By using “&;” instead of “and”, this example shows that “Mark & Becka” are together with “Sherry & John” and that they are hiking. By using “&” instead of “and” you know that Mark cares more about Becka than he cares about Sherry or John. Why? Because “&” is sympathetic, unlike “and”, it shows favoritism. It shows a grouping within the grouping provided of by “and”.

Now that I’ve explained it, can you tell the difference between example two and three?

Here’s another example to reiterate:

Amy was asked what were some of her favorite foods.
She said, “Mangos, kiwi, orange sherbet, fish & chips, green olives… oh, and pickles!”

Did you notice “fish & chips”? She is stating that she likes fish and chips together, as a single unit, as a single favorite snack. It also means that she may not like fish and chips separately. Or at least not half as much as she would if they were together.

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