In modern Spanish you will sometimes find people writing "amig@s" as the word for "friends". Why?

"Amigo" (plural "amigos") is probably one of the most widely recognised Spanish words, even by people who would claim not to know any Spanish -- think of all those cowboy movies where it used to pop up in the English dialogue; think of “The Three Amigos”!

But in Spanish "amigo" is a masculine form; if you were talking about a female friend, you would use the word "amiga"; for a group of female friends "amigas". This is all very logical, but it can get complicated if you are talking about lots of people: what do you say if you are referring to a mixed group, or a potentially mixed group, of males and females?

One solution is just to use the word "amigos" (but that sounds a bit dismissive of those female friends); another solution is always to refer to both "amigos" and "amigas", but that can become a bit tiresome if you have to write it lots of times. The 21st-century solution is really neat. Just look at that "@" symbol: can you see both an "o" and an "a" in that little squiggle? So, if you type "amig@s" in your text or on-line message, then the women can read it as "amigas" and the men can read it as good old "amigos".

Simple, no?