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Carol wondered: <<We had a discussion at work about the meaning of
the slash (/) mark. In my 25-year career as a technical writer, I
have always understood the slash mark to mean "or", as in "Select OK/
Yes".>>
There is no standard definition, other than in mathematics (where it
means "divide by"). That's exactly the problem with the slash: it's a
lazy way to say things that are better said using words. If you mean
"or", say "or". If you need to be more precise (often the case), say
"A, B, or both" or "A or B, but not both".
<<However, a developer here included options in the interface where
the administrator chooses a combination of protocols from a list. For
example, the administration can choose the "LDAP/MAPI" combination.
When reviewing the administrator's guide, I assumed that "LDAP/MAPI"
meant "LDAP or MAPI" and asked the tech writer to clarify it for me.
She told me that it means "LDAP and MAPI", which was a surprise to
me. I didn't know that the slash could mean "or" and "and".>>
See what I mean? <g> The correct usage in this case is an en dash,
which is used to indicate compounds of equal weight (i.e., "both)--as
any style guide will confirm. But because en dashes are foreign to a
great many readers (including, apparently, your technical writer),
it's still clearer to say "the combination of A and B" or "both A and
B".
<<Searching for usage information brought some interesting
information to light, including the fact that usage of the slash
often lends itself to ambiguity. It appears that the "or" meaning is
common in instructional documentation, but the "and" meaning is
common in many other places where the writer simply wants to connect
two items through the slash mark. So, fellow techwhirlers, what is
your understanding of the best practices for using the slash mark? I
typically try to avoid using it at all...>>
Your research should help you accept my own opinion that the slash is
ambiguous, and should be ruthlessly eliminated. Why bother using an
ambiguous form when unambiguous wording is so easy?
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