Re: and/or?

["Raj Machhan" <raj -dot- machhan -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Thanks for making it clear, Geoff.

As I see it, a technical writer should convey 'definite' information about a
product or solution. Technical documentation does not have any place for
ambiguities like "and/or".

Raj





On 6/22/07, Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca> wrote:
>
> The problem with "and/or" is that it's imprecise, and is used
> sloppily and in different ways by different people. The three common
> meanings are "A and B, but _maybe not_ both", "A or B, but also maybe
> _both_", and "A, B, or both". See the problem?
>
> In formal writing, it's a term you should avoid because it's not
> always clear which of these three meanings is intended. Instead, be
> specific if clarity is important: use "and" when you mean that both
> options are likely, "or" when you mean that only one options is
> likely, and "A, B, or both" when you want to emphasize that there are
> three possibilities.
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
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