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"And/or" is one of those phrases we editors love to hate, even though
it's widely used and it's often reasonably clear what the author means.
The problem (imho) with the phrase is that it often represents lazy
thinking by the author, who isn't willing to pin down which of the
following they actually mean:
- A and B (both are necessary and both pertain)
- A and B (both are possible, but it's not necessary that both pertain)
- A or B (one or the other pertains, but not both)
- A or B (A, B, or A plus B pertain)
- A and B or A or B (I really don't understand what I'm trying to say,
so I'll cover all possibilities and let you figure it out)
In some cases, making this distinction really is important. In those
cases, you're always better to reword to make the meaning clear and
specific. In other cases, particularly informal ones, the author's
intent is so vague and the sentence is so poorly considered that it
really doesn't matter which of these options is intended: the sentence
is sufficiently empty of meaning that using "and/or" can't possibly
hurt. Of course, one might wonder why we're letting the author
perpetrate this waste of space when the reader probably has better
things to do with their time.
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