{"id":62,"date":"2015-07-21T18:54:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-21T18:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/styleforstudents\/?post_type=chapter&p=62"},"modified":"2015-07-21T18:54:00","modified_gmt":"2015-07-21T18:54:00","slug":"and-or","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-hccc-styleforstudents-1\/chapter\/and-or\/","title":{"raw":"And \/ Or","rendered":"And \/ Or"},"content":{"raw":"
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\r\n\r\nIf you have ever read a lengthy legal document, you have probably encountered an abundant use of \u201cand\/or.\u201d Nevertheless, in good conscience, I cannot recommend that you use this construction in your writing, because the best style handbooks preach against it and label its use unprofessional. Besides, both \u201cand\u201d and \u201cor\u201d by themselves effectively link ideas that can be considered either individually or collectively. For example, in the second sentence of this paragraph, I used \u201cand\u201d to link \u201cpreach against it\u201d and \u201clabel its use unprofessional,\u201d even though not every style handbook would necessarily do both of these. In other words, \u201cand\u201d can be used to suggest likely combinations of ideas, while \u201cor\u201d can be used to help the reader consider just one idea at a time.\r\n\r\nIf you feel, as some writers do, that you want to use \u201cand\/or\u201d just to be fastidious, instead you should simply word the sentence appropriately to cover the different possibilities:\r\n
Instead of<\/em>: \u201cThe new propeller design is expected to reduce cavitation and\/or drag.\u201d<\/blockquote>\r\n
Write:<\/em> \u201cThe new propeller design is expected to reduce cavitation, or drag, or both.\u201d<\/blockquote>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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If you have ever read a lengthy legal document, you have probably encountered an abundant use of \u201cand\/or.\u201d Nevertheless, in good conscience, I cannot recommend that you use this construction in your writing, because the best style handbooks preach against it and label its use unprofessional. Besides, both \u201cand\u201d and \u201cor\u201d by themselves effectively link ideas that can be considered either individually or collectively. For example, in the second sentence of this paragraph, I used \u201cand\u201d to link \u201cpreach against it\u201d and \u201clabel its use unprofessional,\u201d even though not every style handbook would necessarily do both of these. In other words, \u201cand\u201d can be used to suggest likely combinations of ideas, while \u201cor\u201d can be used to help the reader consider just one idea at a time.<\/p>\n

If you feel, as some writers do, that you want to use \u201cand\/or\u201d just to be fastidious, instead you should simply word the sentence appropriately to cover the different possibilities:<\/p>\n

Instead of<\/em>: \u201cThe new propeller design is expected to reduce cavitation and\/or drag.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Write:<\/em> \u201cThe new propeller design is expected to reduce cavitation, or drag, or both.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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