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> But the "or" makes the meaning ambiguous I disagree that or is ambiguous. In English we use or to mean xor, that is one item or the other item but not both.
by asciimov 6y ago
> But the "or" makes the meaning ambiguous
I disagree that or is ambiguous. In English we use or to mean xor, that is one item or the other item but not both. If we want to clarify that choosing both items is an option we use the term and/or.
- thih9 6y ago> I disagree that or is ambiguous There are examples of inclusive “or” in natural language. When the waiter asks: “Would you like cream or sugar?”, it’s not meant to imply that you should pick only one; it’s fine to answer “both” (example from: https://divisbyzero.com/2009/09/27/is-or-an-inclusive-or-or-an-exclusive-or/ https://divisbyzero.com/2009/09/27/is-or-an-inclusive-or-or-... ).
- chrismorgan 6y agoAnd if you put a comma in, then it reverts it to exclusive or: “Would you like cream, or sugar?” This may depend on locale, however; I’m speaking of Australian English, and it’s possible that in some locales there may be a verbal cue to indicate the exclusive or but that it wouldn’t be spelled in any way. (As it stands, you could still have a pause before the “or” permitting inclusive or with two inqusitive portions: “Would you like cream? Or sugar?”) This is a large part of why I dislike prescribed Oxford comma, because it undermines this legitimate use of a comma to alter the semantics.