You know when something can be either “or” or “and?” You may also say it is “and” and or “or”; “or” and/or “and,” if you will. That’s the inclusive or!
The Latin “vel” is a word for the inclusive or. I also just learned that the logic symbol, ∨, is called “vel” and is used for something called “disjunction” as opposed to “exclusive disjunction (⊻),” which is simply the exclusive or, which is the regular or in English.
Apparently the legal term “vel non” uses this word to mean “or not,” which means there’s at least a chance of it making it out of the courtroom and into the common lingo like quid pro quo, de jure, and de facto, did.
Or, xor
“Xor” is exclusive, which means it is one, the other, but not both. In logic, an inclusive disjunction would be “or.” The problem is people don’t use xor and or; the use of just “or” makes things difficult to understand sometimes.
it is one, the other, but not both
And not neither. False xor false == false
I understand that xor is the exclusive or. That means that or is indeed the inclusive or.
We already have the inclusive or, people just don’t use it properly. The beauty of language is that we can append inclusive or exclusive to make it clear.
Is there a math symbol equivalent to and/or? (something like + - ≠ etc…)
∧ = “and”
∨ = “or”Honorary mention to & and | respectively for their use in programming, and occasionally math.
Would you like pie, vel ice cream?
Infantry must be equipped with anti-tank guided missiles vel suicide drones if they are to stand a chance against enemy armoured vehicles.
To take Introduction to Set Theory, you must have taken Calculus 1 vel Linear Algebra 1.
That car has seen better days. Based on the sounds it’s making, the entire engine needs cleaning – vel maybe the carburettor is shot.
I like it! We could use it vel “xor” to specify exclusive or (although I’m not sure if “xor” should be pronounced zor, cksor, or ex-or).
While pronouncing xor as ‘ex-or’ makes sense, since the x stands for ex-clusive, most words in English that start with x make the ‘Z’ sound. Xenophobe, xylophone, xanax. But once again, the regular ‘or’ in English is already exclusive, so there’s no need to make a new word for it, but I admit it would be fun.
Reginald And/Or Johnson
“either or both” is what I’d say today for maximum clarity. and/or is fine too (for me)
- We have veggie and beef hotdogs. Would you like either or both?
- Would you like a veggie and or a beef hotdog?
- You can have either or both a soup and salad with your main dish.
- You can have a soup and or salad with your main dish.
- Will you be taking either or both Music History and Greek Mythology as elective courses this year?
- Will you be taking Music History and or Greek Mythology as elective courses this year?
