@now | Dartmouth Folklore Archive

Title: @now

General Information about Item:

Informant Data:

Bryce Killian is a sophomore at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. He is currently pursuing a major in Quantitative Social Sciences and a possible minor in Computer Science. He is from Dallas, Texas. As is similar with most of our other informants, he is pressed for time for his comprehensive class list, and divides his free time between several clubs and working out.

Item:

“@now” is used frequently at Dartmouth, and essentially means “now,” however the “@” adds an emphasis. It is similar to “right now”

Contextual Data:

Social/Cultural Context: The term “@now” is widely used here at Dartmouth, however not so much verbally as it is written. The term is mostly seen in emails, or “blitz’s” or GroupMe messages and texts. It is to signify that whatever event that is being described is occurring at that exact moment in time, and the recipient should hurry as not to miss out.

An example of an article in The Dartmouth using @now

Informant’s Comments:

“When I first saw “@now” being used, I thought it must have been a typo. I understood what it meant in emphasizing the “now,” but I thought it was kind of weird that emails would choose to use it so frequently. The first time I saw it in text form was before rowing practice, when sometimes our captains would text us to meet “@now” in the boathouse. I never use the term, because I think that it is weird and kind of annoying, but I see it all the time.”

Collector’s Comments:

When I was first introduced to the term, I had similar sentiments as the informant. I thought it was weird and, for a reason I can not seem to pinpoint, I thought it was annoying too. It seemed that it was used to rush the individual on the receiving side of the message, which is something I do not like to do. Regardless, I see the word everywhere, from emails to texts, and I have accepted it is part of our culture.

Collector’s Name:

Tags/Keywords: