Talk:And/or

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Just a question:

Jim will not eat cake and pie.----Does it suggest that Jim will not eat 2 things, but he may eat cake, or pie (one of the two options)?

Jim will not eat cake or pie.----Can I interpret it as, Jim will not eat any of the two?

Just an answer:

Does it matter in this context? The point is that neither is resolved by using "Jim will not eat cake and/or pie". English already provides for avoiding ambiguity without introducing the unhelpful "and or or" construction. You could say "Jim may eat either cake or pie" or "Jim may eat neither cake nor pie".

mouse 14:39, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

This article makes me want cake, pie, and brownies. I hate dieting...

[edit] Either

After the 2nd paragraph establishes that "and/or" is problematic, and the 3rd paragraph states an argument for using it, the 4th paragraph counters that argument by saying two things: (a) that either, as a conjunction, appropriately indicates that the choices are mutually exclusive; and (b) that it is not necessary to use either as a conjunction when the function of "or" is clear from the context. So far, so good.

However, don't we still need to suggest how to indicate that the choices are not mutually exclusive for cases in which the function of "or" is not clear from the context? In other words, the absence of either does not tell us that the writer would invariably have used either (or some similar indicator) if the choices had been mutually exclusive.

I'm not suggesting that this article needs to be a complete grammar lesson on this subject. I simply think that we've left one logical part of the argument unsettled.

--rich<Rich Janis 03:11, 10 July 2007 (UTC)>

Does the other need to indicate that the choices are mutually exclusive? I put together a quick comparison/explanation here:

http://www.geocities.com/thorin.geo/and_or_invalid.html

It's not as if we can expect authors to write "and/exclusive or". 198.103.96.11 14:08, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Do not merge

Do not merge it. It's an outstanding linguistic phenomenon not directly related to logic and mathematics. --ssr 06:21, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] XOR

I've heard the term XOR used, like the Logic Gate 86.42.137.48 16:39, 11 November 2007 (UTC)