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From: Einde O'Callaghan <eindeoc@freenet.de>
Newsgroups: alt.languages.english
Subject: Re: Usage of "or" and punctuation
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:20:46 +0200
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G. Acharya wrote:
> Is there a punctuation to add to distinguish the following
>
>
> 1st e.g.
> A or B can be used
> ================
> A results in some problem. B results some other problem and both A and
> B can be used.
>
> 2nd e.g
> A or The first alphabet
> =================
> A is the first alphabet in the English language. This is the first
> letter the student of English language learns.
>
I think this should be "A or the first letter of the alphabet" which
means tha A is another way of describing the first describing the first
letter of teh alphabet. A cannot be an alphabet since it is just one
letter. The alphabet used for English has 26 letters. Other languages
have larger or smaller alphabet.
REgards, Einde O'Callaghan
>
> In the above examples "or" has been used to distinguish in the first
> case, and to explain in the second. I had a confusion when
> comprehending the actual meaning, mistook heading in the text, and
> finally lead to ambiguity in the meaning. So, I was wondering if this
> problem is already addressed by punctuating the two differently.
>
> When reading a passage the in the above 1st e.g. format made me think
> for some time B was another meaning of A mentioned in example 2. While
> later after a great difficulty I understood the usage of B was as in
> example 1 and not 2.
>
> Sincerely,
> Ganesh J. Acharya
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