Yes, several times. If I remember correctly, it was even discussed with almost the exact syntax you proposed, and it was immediately pointed out how it conflicts with existing pattern / expression syntax (I don't remember the the details but you can search for it).
It might not be immediately intuitive, but my experience was that I became accustomed to it after about a couple of days spent writing Rust and from that point onward, it makes perfect sense. Yes, Rust is a language that you probably have to put more learning effort in. I don't think that adding another way to say ref would make things clearer or easier to learn (the converse, actually).