at
æt
Why 'at three' and 'shouting at someone' are the same word
The picture A finger comes down on a wide map and presses one spot. The width disappears; only the point is left. IN puts you inside a wide space; AT shrinks that space down to one pressed point.
Where the picture shows up in at
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a point on the map
I'll wait for you at the front desk.
aɪl weɪt fɔːr juː ət ðə frʌnt desk
I'll be standing right where the front desk is, waiting for you.
Not the whole building — one spot, the front desk, pressed under a fingertip.
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a point on the clock
The meeting starts at three sharp.
ðə ˈmiːtɪŋ stɑːrts ət θriː ʃɑːrp
Three o'clock, not a minute later — that is when the meeting starts.
Of all the marks on the clock face, the hand stops on just one: three.
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a point you aim at
Please don't shout at the staff.
pliːz doʊnt ʃaʊt ət ðə stæf
Don't aim your raised voice at one of the staff.
The voice turns into an arrow pointed straight at one person.
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a point on a scale
We sell it at ten dollars a box.
wiː sel ɪt ət ten ˈdɑːlərz ə bɑːks
Ten dollars a box is the price this goes out at.
A needle stuck into one slot in a long row of price tags.
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a slot in the day
He's at work until six.
hiːz ət wɜːrk ənˈtɪl sɪks
Until six o'clock he is sitting inside his working hours.
In the row of boxes that make up a day, the person is pinned inside the one marked 'work'.
All of it in one picture
AT is a finger pressing one point. Press it on a map and you get a place; press it on a clock face and you get a time. Press it toward a person and you get a target, press it on a scale and you get a price, press it on the day's schedule and you get where someone is right now. Whatever AT touches stops being wide and becomes a single dot.