What does “chiocciola” mean in an Italian email?

In Italian, the @ sign in an email address is read as chiocciola, which is also the everyday word for a snail. So an address said out loud goes “name chiocciola gmail dot com.” The name fits the shape: the @ symbol curls like a snail’s spiral shell, so people borrowed the snail word for it. It is the normal, neutral way to say @ across Italy, useful any time you spell out an email or social handle aloud.

Hear it when one woman dictates her email: “Non uso l’e-mail, ma scriviamo martank chiocciola gmail punto com” - so “@” is chiocciola and the dot is punto. A full address sounds like “marta punto rossi chiocciola gmail punto com.” The base word means snail; you’ll also meet it on a menu, where lumache or chiocciole are cooked snails. The link is purely visual: the @ loops in on itself like the coiled shell, so the snail word stuck. Good to know before any sign-up form, where someone will ask “qual è il tuo indirizzo email?”