Amphorae and Monkey Tails

Image originally uploaded to Flickr by ushtey

Courtesy of Simon Garfield, I was delighted to learn this morning that the symbol @ - which in English is called an "amphora" (as in a jar or unit of measurement) or an "ampersat" but is more often known as the "at sign" - is called "monkey's tail" in German, "pig's tail" in Danish, or "dog's tail" in Russian. In French, it is "snail", and in Czech, "rollmop herring" ...

All far more evocative, no?

Kinder Egg weirdness

This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen as a Kinder Egg toy ... hat tip to the boy, who thinks it to be a rare breed of ginger spidermonkey