huskyskins's page

27 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists.



1 person marked this as a favorite.

"Or" is used to connect alternatives, but does not imply those alternatives are necessarily mutually exclusive. However, without context, it can be very difficult to distinguish the exclusivity of the alternatives.

When your host asks you "Cream or sugar?" the context is that one does not preclude having the other and is implied to be followed with "or both."

If you are reading a menu at a restaurant, "mashed potatoes or french fries" comes with the context that the phrase is preceeded by "either," because only one side comes with your cheeseburger.

Lem's power is accompanied by very little context. It states: "At the start or end of your turn, you may exchange 1 card in your hand with 1 card of the same type in your discard pile." This sentence would greatly benefit from adding "or both" to clearly state that the alternatives are not mutually exclusive. And in other instances where the alternatives are intended to be mutually exclusive, the phrase should be preceeded by "either."