Note that the actual title of the article is "A Natural History of the @ Sign".

Omitted the '@' (probably an escaping issue) drastically changes the title.

I came upon this page after an Indian collegue of mine called the '@' sign something along the lines of 'aderate'. I did not understand why, and after some searching an article popped up written by someone who had the exact same thing happen to him[1].

[1] https://invisibleblocks.com/2005/9/28/what-indians-call-the-...

tl;dr: "at the rate (of)".

I love the Polish colloqualism for it, "małpa" meaning "monkey" because of the curled tail.

"The Sign". Portentous.

I like the Indonesian name best.