I truly enjoy the simplicity of your comments and the ease at which it unravels the select few.

It used to be part of the alphabet. We say “x, y, and z”. But it used to be “x, y, z, and per se, and” which would be written like “XYZ&”. So the alphabet had 27 characters in its recitation. And it’s also where we get it’s name. “and per se and” is shortened to “ampersand”.

We need to start with &. It wasn’t that long ago that it got removed.