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As a programmer, I have no problem with seeing or using "and/or" in technical documentation. For example,

I can upvote an answer that satisfies me and/or mark it as accepted.

That's perfectly good English to me. However, if I were writing a novel, or even just an essay, or — heaven forbid — a poem, "and/or" would seem extremely out of place.

My question is, what should I be using instead? (I solemnly swear I will not use that knowledge to actually write a poem.)

tchrist
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RegDwigнt
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  • Interesting question. – Noldorin Aug 22 '10 at 13:23
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    If only there was a way to submit a feature request for the language, this would be a good suggestion. The word 'aor' isn't in use yet, that would make a good substitute. – JohnFx Aug 22 '10 at 16:04
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    @JohnFx: In boolean logic, 'or' means 'and/or'. We really want to be saing 'XOR' most of the time! :) – Noldorin Aug 22 '10 at 17:42
  • @Noldorin: most of the time we don't want to be saying "XOR". In fact both "and" and "or" in English carry the meaning "and/or". –  Aug 23 '10 at 08:51
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    @Shinto: I disagree: John and Mark are over 6 feet tall. No 'or' meaning there. Often we do mean XOR by 'or': Either John or Mark is at Harvard this fall. (I'm not sure which one, but it's not both.) – moioci Aug 24 '10 at 02:58
  • Yeah, I'm with moioci on this one... – Noldorin Aug 24 '10 at 12:29
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    @moioci: that is completely beside the point. The point is that and/or can be replaced with "and" or "or". –  Aug 24 '10 at 13:23
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    @Shinto Sherlock: and/or cannot be replaced by and. It can only be replaced by "or" and then you are counting on the reader to infer the inclusive sense. Sometimes it's better to be clear. – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Aug 27 '10 at 14:09
  • @Mr. Shiny and New: you seem to be replying to me in a number of places. Since I've answered the question below (and you seem to have downvoted my answer), why not reply/discuss on my answer. –  Aug 27 '10 at 14:22
  • @Shinto: sorry, wasn't my downvote. I merely disagreed. And if you ask me the reply to a comment should be attached to the same thread as the comment. – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Aug 27 '10 at 19:40
  • There are "no alternatives to and/or". And/or is a logical operator in your world and in technical subjects. In poetry and novels they would be used separately, not with a slash. – Lambie Jun 25 '18 at 14:21
  • Furthermore, the word "and" and "or" are conjunctions used in grammar, so they're everywhere. Conclusion: I do not understand your question as posed. – Lambie Jun 25 '18 at 14:38
  • It's shitty English -- just use "or"! – Martin F Oct 16 '18 at 04:52
  • Any lawyers here? How is this handled in a legal contract? This would seem to me to be the most explicit and logically accurate way to write this, but perhaps not the most poetic – hobs Dec 05 '19 at 17:44

10 Answers10

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Here are a few alternatives to the example you provided that avoid the stroke (forward slash). Pick whichever one you like!

  1. I can upvote an answer that satisfies me, mark it as accepted, or do both.
  2. I can do either or both of up-voting and marking as accepted the answer that satisfies me.
  3. I can do either or both of up-voting the answer that satisfies me and marking it as accepted.

They are all grammatically correct, though perhaps 2. and 3. are a bit more convoluted, for the sake of logical clarity.

Noldorin
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"And/or" is actually a fairly stupid expression, since the English words "and" or "or" aren't as exact or exclusive as this expression seems to imply. For example,

I like coconuts and steaks

doesn't necessarily mean "I like coconuts and steaks at the same time".

Here,

I can upvote an answer that satisfies me and/or mark it as accepted.

could just as well be

I can upvote an answer that satisfies me or mark it as accepted.

In the context of a normal piece of writing, there are very few people, except argumentative weirdos, who will take that to mean that you can't do both of those things.

If you desperately need to emphasize that both things are possible then Noldorin has answered that in detail.

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    and/or is an important expression because many times the word or implies "exclusive or". "Would you like coffee or tea?" "You may go left or right." If the writer needs to succinctly ensure that an inclusive meaning is read the phrase and/or conveys that. "You will be fined and/or jailed." In technical contexts (like laws or contracts) it is a perfectly good way of writing that meaning. In an essay or novel it is not really an appropriate style. As for your argumentative weirdos comment, I disagree that it's impossible for someone to misunderstand "I can upvote or mark as accepted". – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Aug 27 '10 at 14:08
  • I laid those words as a careful trap for you, Mr. Shiny and New. –  Aug 27 '10 at 15:01
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    @Shinto: The fact that people can be confused by inclusive and exclusive or makes your statement that "upvote or accept" is exactly as good as "upvote and/or accept" wrong. Language Log had a blog post about this a while back: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=46. Lots of readers wrote in to explain that "or" is always EXCLUSIVE but they were clearly wrong. However, as a writer, if you want to ensure that your readers get your point, you can use and/or. It's not desperate. It's not stupid. And I agree that humans don't say it out loud very often. But it's still valid. – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Aug 27 '10 at 19:54
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I don't think and/or is stupid. The reason is that there are two types of "or"s.

  • Inclusive Or: Please give me a taco and/or a burrito (I'm saying I will accept a taco, a burrito, or both.)

  • Exclusive Or: Please give me either a taco or a burrito. (I will accept a taco or a burrito but not both.)

The problem is using plain-old "or" isn't very explicit about which is meant.

  • Or: Please give me a taco or a burrito. (I will accept a taco or a burrito but maybe? not both...)

Many people need to be explicit that inclusive or is meant and not exclusive or. In my last sentence, which or is meant is ambiguous. Am I expecting to get exactly one thing? Or would both be acceptable?

But yes to answer your question we can try to phrase the inclusive or without use of and/or:

  • Please give me either a taco or a burrito or both (Hmm kind of clunky... I'm going to stick with using and/or.)

Conclusion: and/or has naturally evolved to fill an unfilled niche in English...the explicit inclusive or. Why fight progress?

Doug T.
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    If I ever meet you, Doug T., I'll pay you a substantial sum of money to hear you go into a Mexican restaurant and say "Please give me a taco and/or a burrito". –  Aug 27 '10 at 16:58
  • @delete You can be at someone's house serving Mexican food or gringo food. So, it makes sense in fact. – Lambie Jun 25 '18 at 14:41
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Linguistically this is called the "inclusive or." A single-word version of it--"vel"--exists in Latin. In certain, admittedly limited contexts, it might be conceivable to use the Latin conjunction within English writing (designated by italics).

Of course, in math and formal logic, you can and must use "or" for "and/or." But the question remains of how to do it in normal speech.

I think the word "also" (with or without "could") adumbrates much of the same semantic ground as "and/or." Not that the expressions are interchangeable, of course.

I agree we seem to lack a good conjunction for this in English--which is odd, because the "neither/nor" side is so rich.

SAH
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A word to use in place of and/or is simply "andor". See http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/andor

I see nothing wrong with using andor. Technical writing often calls for it, and saves from writing longer andor more confusing sentences.

Using andor in that last sentence basically said: "saves from writing longer or saves from writing more confusing sentences"(because it could be short, but more confusing; or long, but not more confusing), or "saves from writing longer and more confusing sentences"(both longer and confusing).

Xarcell
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Here are a few additional alternatives:

  • You may upvote satisfactory answers, and you can also mark them as accepted.
  • The non-exclusive options are to upvote a satisfactory answer, and to mark it as accepted.
  • On finding a satisfactory answer, you should seperately consider upvoting it, and marking it as accepted.
Isaac
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I’d suggest:

I can upvote an answer that satisfies me, as well as mark it as accepted.

Philippe-André Lorin
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And/or:

Example: “I’d like a coffee and/or a coke.”

Alternatives (based on rewording):

I’d like a coffee or a coke or both.

If not a coffee or coke I’d like both.

I’d like a coffee, coke or either.

I’d like a coke together with a coffee or just one of the two.

Alternatives (based on synonyms or antonyms):

(Not for starbucks) Therewith a coke or coffee, both.

I’ll take no more than a coffee and a coke (Usable with nearly no waitress or waiter anywhere, ever, without several questions being asked as a result; therein forcing the and/or problem).

Between coffee and coke, I’d also take either.

If not a coffee and coke then either.

(Maybe mathematician) I’d like a coffee and coke, bisect otherwise.

I’d like a coffee or coke or to combine/join/ them.

I’d like a coffee, coke, or their combo.

Several more examples no doubt abound, you just have to think about verbs, conditionals, adverbs, a thesaurus (for every such instance) a dictionary for usage (setting mostly) and Google (usually Stackexchange). “Combo” is great in this particular setting, for example, but would have to carry the unwanted connotations of the setting if retooled for some other register should it be imposed for example on most any other conjunctive phrasing.

Once you get into the rhetoric of the language (idioms, phrases, etc), for example variations of phrases like to cleave twain, you’ll see how much the language has to offer and all of the implicit propositions that the and/or phrase ignores. At the same time, you’ll no doubt have renewed appreciation for the allegedly problematic and/or.

Special-usage dictionaries and bilingual dictionaries (online) as well as various such language forums may be a last-ditch effort, but look at it like this: Most of the answers have taken no more than 30 minutes. The quality of them has depended not on cognitive qualities (“intelligence”, attention, memory, etc.) nearly as much as on experience. Still, that’s just thirty minutes. If you dedicated a day to the question and about 50 very good references, I guarantee you you’d really surprise yourself. English is the richest of languages, by far, and if another language has it, it’d just be by coincidence. For example Polish might because it’s so rich in cases, Latin and Greek as well, as mentioned in part above. The main tool will be your own resolve.

Private Name
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  • Hello, Private Name. This seems to depart into the non-idiomatic on occasion. // Several examples don't 'abound'. // Can't a 'combo' be a mixture? – Edwin Ashworth Jun 25 '18 at 14:17
  • Sorry, I don’t follow, @Edwin Ashworth. Why do you say that several examples (of alternatives) don’t abound? I found mine in just twenty minutes without any references (on my phone). My guess is that you meant that “one or possibly two-worded,” exact synonyms don’t abound, which doesn’t address what I actually said. Maybe the verb abound is what you criticize? My second question for you is departing from idioms. The question looks only for answers to a pair of conjunctions used literally. Maybe you meant “departs from literal variations or rewording”? Not sure why you say such either. – Private Name Jun 25 '18 at 14:35
  • 'Several parrots' means 3-8 say. 'Starlings abound on the Somerset coast' means thousands. // Someone saying "I’d like a coffee, coke, or their combo", "If not a coffee or coke I’d like both", "I’d like a coffee, coke or either" or "I’d like a coke together with a coffee or just one of the two" ... in a cafe would get a lot of strange looks. It's not just your flagged example that's unidiomatic. You probably need to choose a more appropriate example, one where the register works. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 26 '18 at 11:32
  • Edwin, I think you might want to look into abound the verb. It does not mean thousands. It means a lot. I’m not sure where you’re referencing your words, but standard English is where you’d want to start. Also, I already explained in my response that of course they are just alternatives, as was requested, rather than encompassing what could have been assumed, style, convention, one-word synonyms, etc. Finally, I don’t understand what you mean by unidiomatic. My examples are not meant to be literal or idiomatic, they are meant only to satisfy what the person asked for: alternatives to and/or. – Private Name Jul 02 '18 at 09:34
  • 'Several' and 'a lot' are where you should start in your own exploration of standard English. Let me know when you find an authority saying they're synonymous. 'Several more examples abound' is unacceptable. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 02 '18 at 10:13
  • Sure, it is indeed standard, you can check a lot and several on thesaurus.com. I’m a professor of English by the way with a masters in linguistics and more than ten years of experience, in case you’re wondering? Just look at the definition of abound if it’ll make it easier for you. “To be present in large numbers or great quantity.” Now again with the definition in place of the verb: “several more examples are present in large numbers.” How in the world do you imagine that such is not standard English? – Private Name Jul 03 '18 at 01:52
  • Your resignation on “unidiomatic” is accepted, by the way. – Private Name Jul 03 '18 at 01:57
  • I think what you’re attempting is that because I’ve said several I can’t say abound, as though doing so would be redundant. No it would not. What is found in great quantity is not one example only, but several examples, provided of course that one think about such examples critically and appeal to references. Still though, attempting to impose unstated conditions on what counts as examples is begging the question. The person did not specify stylish or one-word examples, etc. Also, my answer wasn’t flagged, you down voted it because you were angry that your attempted criticism was debunked. – Private Name Jul 03 '18 at 02:02
  • I downvoted it after giving you chance to get rid of ridiculous suggestions such as 'I’d like a coffee and coke, bisect otherwise' and 'Therewith a coke or coffee, both'. The U in ELU stands for usage; these suggestions are outlandish and non-idiomatic. Grammaticality is often trumped by idiomaticity. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 03 '18 at 10:30
  • Sorry, Edwin, I don't mind if you down vote my answer, it's just that saying it was flagged is where you went wrong. You simply down voted it because "can't get my way." Suit yourself. – Private Name Jul 04 '18 at 11:33
  • Some of my "suggestions" come with comments for the very reasons you pretend contradict what I've said. "(Maybe a mathematician)" helps people understand that while possible, such would be idiosyncratic (not unidiomatic), at best or appropriate in, say, comedy writing. Regardless, it is not my job to assume the intended usage, nor yours. For the descriptive syntax you seem to have troubles with, I'll refer you to Quirk's A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. The question is what determines the response, the site's title the theme of the questions. Thanks anyways, :) – Private Name Jul 04 '18 at 11:38
  • It's certainly not your job to assume 'my answer wasn’t flagged, you down voted it because you were angry that your attempted criticism was debunked'. I suggest you delete it to keep the site relatively credible. // 'Unidiomatic' means 'not commonly used' (as has been discussed on ELU before); it thus overlaps bigtime with 'idiosyncratic'. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 04 '18 at 19:48
  • The site is more than credible, and the charge is more than backed up by your behavior, Edwin. You first tried to attack me on "to abound." Didn't work. You then went for idiomatic, or unidiomatic, which still is wrong. Idiomatic means not literal, as in to rain cats and dogs. It doesn't mean not commonly used. Not commonly used means obsolete, unfamiliar, rare, etc. Believe what you like. Idiosyncratic is the word you were looking for. You down voted my response because you presumed that my examples had to meet criteria that were not expounded upon in the question, which you admitted. :) – Private Name Jul 05 '18 at 13:48
  • Again, my answer was not flagged. You down voted it because although you lost in our logomachy, you still refuse to admit that you were wrong. Instead you conveniently stop talking about it. No one asked for standard, stylish English, readily intuitive in terms of generative grammar. You're the one who has imposed said criteria as though if the examples don't meet such, they fail as examples. No, they don't. He specifically stated literature, a poem, or even elsewhere; meaning that it could be comedy, or any number of different settings. The examples could work very well indeed. Sorry. – Private Name Jul 05 '18 at 13:51
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and/or is not a literary or poetic collocation.

I have never ever seen and/or in a novel or poem.

Of course, there are exceptions surely. But in general and/or is a logical operator and not used in literary or poetic discourse.

So, the question as posed does not make sense in a literary or poetic environment.

logical operators

Lambie
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Another solution:

salt and (or) pepper

user263268
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