And/or: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Amwelladmin (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
Amwelladmin (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
===In brief=== | ===In brief=== | ||
In a {{nutshell}}, “ | In a {{nutshell}}, “{{f|and/or}}” means “{{f|or}}”, because “{{f|or}}” includes “{{f|and}}”. | ||
Never use | Never use {{f|and/or}}. It is the [[mediocre lawyer|lawyer]]’s equivalent of having a damp kipper handshake. | ||
===In tedious detail=== | ===In tedious detail=== | ||
“ | “{{f|and/or}}” crops up often in mediocre drafting. It has a face only a mother could love. It is borne of the quite unjustified fear that when contemplating a list of alternatives the occurrence of ''any'' of which leads to an certain outcome, one’s plans in that regard might somehow come unstuck if they ''all'' occur. | ||
There is no grounds for this fear. Logically, this is how one defines | There is no grounds for this fear. Logically, this is how one defines {{f|and}} and {{f|or}}: | ||
{{box| | {{box| | ||
Line 15: | Line 15: | ||
}} | }} | ||
And/or is not just ugly; it’s defeatist, because of the presence of the [[virgule]], that whoreson slash, which is not even a part of idiomatic punctuation in the English language. It’s a decoration. It has no fixed grammatical meaning. That slash admits that the plain, punctuated words of the English language have defeated you. | And/or is not just ugly; it’s defeatist, because of the presence of the [[virgule]], that whoreson {{|slash}}, which is not even a part of idiomatic punctuation in the English language. It’s a decoration. It has no fixed grammatical meaning. That slash admits that the plain, punctuated words of the English language have defeated you. | ||
In fact, that slash means - and can only mean - “ | In fact, that slash means - and can only mean - “{{f|or}}”. So by saying “{{f|and/or}}” you are really saying “and, ''or'' or”. But to be hermetically sealed and consistent, shouldn’t you make one further clarifying step, and say “{{f|and}}, {{f|and/or}} {{f|or}}”? | ||
AND DO YOU NOW SEE THE INFINITE REGRESSION YOU HAVE SET IN MOTION? | AND DO YOU NOW SEE THE INFINITE REGRESSION YOU HAVE SET IN MOTION? |