Talk:and/or
< Talk:and
Latest comment: 3 years ago by Backinstadiums in topic Ambiguity
Are the "translations" actually in use in those languages or just transliterations? User:Tormod 4/15/04 too early to figure out the time
- Yes, they are. 16@r 18:48, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
Pronunciation
[edit]Longman Pronunciation Dict. reads ˌændˈɔːr (ˌapples ˌand/or ˈpears) --Backinstadiums (talk) 18:10, 16 July 2021 (UTC)
Ambiguity
[edit]It is also sometimes unclear whether three possibilities are meant, or only two. The less ambiguous way of expressing three possibilities is to use ‘X or Y or both’, while in many contexts, just ‘ or’ will do perfectly. Finally, and/ or linking more than two items is to be avoided at all costs. In two situations the ordinary sense of or does not accomplish everything we need. Both involve the level of exclusivity between the elements on either side of or. One comes up in the standard statement of punishment, “a $1,000 fine or a year in jail or both.” The other comes up when the choices are mutually exclusive. If that exclusivity is important to point out—if the judge must choose between a fine and jail, for instance—the writer may substitute but not both for or both in the previous example.