And, as the case may be, or: Difference between revisions

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{{a|plainenglish|{{image|Slash|png|O, whoreson [[Slash]]! Thou unnecessary character!}}{{image|Andor|png|AIFMD, Yesterday.}}}}Just when you thought an expression couldn't get any worse than the lily-livered “[[and/or]]”, the good people of the {{eccds}} say “hold my beer, wine and, as the case may be, or other alcoholic beverage howsoever described”.  
{{a|plainenglish|{{image|Slash|png|O, whoreson [[Slash]]! Thou unnecessary character!}}{{image|Andor|png|AIFMD, Yesterday.}}}}
Just when you thought an expression couldn’t get any worse than the lily-livered “[[and/or]]”, the good people of the {{eccds}} say “hold my beer, wine and, as the case may be, or other alcoholic beverage howsoever described”.  


It might not even make idiomatic, let alone legal, sense, but the expression “[[and, as the case may be, or]]” appears ''thirty-three'' times in the {{tag|AIFMD}} implementing regulations. Our best guess is that this is simply a novel, frightful, way of articulating the already gruesome expression “[[and/or]]” — one about which the [[JC]] can scarcely complain, having noted [[and/or|elsewhere]] how logically impossible is the [[slash]] at the heart of “[[and/or]]”.
It might not even make idiomatic, let alone legal, sense, but the expression “[[and, as the case may be, or]]” appears ''thirty-three'' times in the {{tag|AIFMD}} implementing regulations. Our best guess is that this is simply a novel, frightful, way of articulating the already gruesome expression “[[and/or]]” — one about which the [[JC]] can scarcely complain, having noted [[and/or|elsewhere]] how logically impossible is the [[slash]] at the heart of “[[and/or]]”.


So the {{eccds}} have ''taken out the [[slash]]'' and replaced it with “[[as the case may be]]”:
So the {{eccds}} have ''taken out the [[slash]]'' and replaced it with “, [[as the case may be]],”:


“and, [[as the case may be]], or”.
{{quote|“and, [[as the case may be]], or”.}}


Now firstly, this doesn’t make grammatical sense, and for a reason that gives away the [[paradox|paradoxical black hole]] at the heart of the [[and/or]] galaxy. It should actually be “and ''or'', as the case may be, or”. But you can’t have that first “or”, because you’re not ready for an “or” until you’ve had the “as the case may be”. So should it be “and/or, as the case may be, or”? But alas! The very [[slash]] we were at pains to eliminate is back! So how about, “[[and]] [[or]], [[as the case may be]], [[or]], [[as the case may be]], [[or]]”. But no! we now have a rogue [[As the case may be|un-as-case-may-be’d]] “[[or]]” again! We find ourselves staring deep into an abyss, and the abyss insolently stares back.<ref>“Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein” - Nietzsche.</ref>
Now firstly, this doesn’t make sense, and for a reason that gives away the [[paradox|paradoxical black hole]] at the heart of the [[and/or]] galaxy. It should actually be “and ''or'', as the case may be, or”. But you can’t have that first “or”, because you’re not ready for an “or” until you’ve had the “as the case may be”. So should it be “and/or, as the case may be, or”? But alas! The very [[slash]] we were at pains to eliminate is back! So how about, “[[and]] [[or]], [[as the case may be]], [[or]], [[as the case may be]], [[or]]”. But no! we now have a rogue [[As the case may be|un-as-case-may-be’d]] “[[or]]” again! We find ourselves staring deep into an abyss, and the abyss insolently stares back.<ref>“Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein” - Nietzsche.</ref>


This is black-belt stuff, gang: ''Nested'' {{tag|flannel}}. A flannelette phase, (one already displaying a keening want of [[ontological certainty]]) ''embedded in'' another flannelette phrase ''that also displays {{t|profound ontological uncertainty}}''.  
This is black-belt stuff, gang: ''Nested'' {{tag|flannel}}. A flannelette phase, (one already displaying a keening want of [[ontological certainty]]) ''embedded in'' another flannelette phrase ''that also displays {{t|profound ontological uncertainty}}''.  
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Breath taken. There’s a portal to the fourth dimension right there. An information superhighway direct to the [[Boredom heat death|boredom heat-death]] of the universe.
Breath taken. There’s a portal to the fourth dimension right there. An information superhighway direct to the [[Boredom heat death|boredom heat-death]] of the universe.


By another immutable law of the universe, ''the number of [[slash|slash]]es must remain constant for all time and in all universes''. So if the ECCDS have taken out thirty three of the blighters, '''they must appear somewhere else''', perhaps small, tiny, curled up into another dimension, but somewhere, there are thirty three extraneous [[slash]]es. There ''must'' be.  
By another immutable law of the universe, ''the number of [[slash]]es must remain constant for all time and in all universes''. So if the ECCDS have taken out thirty three of the blighters, '''they must appear somewhere else''', perhaps small, tiny, curled up into another dimension, but somewhere, there are thirty three extraneous [[slash]]es. There ''must'' be.  


I wonder where. A nobel prize surely accrues to they who find them.
I wonder where. A nobel prize surely accrues to they who find them.