That is, the '/' in, "and/or", "doctor/professor", or "him/her".
Me, I've always held that you *don't* pronounce it at all, but say the word as if it was hyphenated: "and-or", etc., because you don't pronounce commas, hyphens, apostrophes or parentheses, do you?
A friend of mine disagrees, saying that is should be pronounced as "slash" to avoid ambiguity with things such as the "red/green hat". Seeing as how the hat is NOT red-green, but either red or green, some clarification should be made. There I agree, but in that situation, you should say "or" for the slash, or something.
So, what's right?
2006-08-11 10:19:07 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Sorry. What I meant to say was that the "red/green hat" was either red *or* green, but not reddish-green.
2006-08-11 10:42:17 · update #1
Honestly you should not be using it at all, but people do so when you are talking you should use the word it is representing. The same way we deal with the math signs +, =, -, x and . (period, dot or point) and other signs like @, #, $, %, &, *. Most of the proper punctuation is represented in speech as different lenght pauses and stops, or as inflections like ? or ! I hope this helps, but basicly your approach is correct.
2006-08-11 11:03:43 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
You can pronounce the "slash" informally. In a casual conversation, saying "and slash or" would be acceptable but awkward.
About the hat -- "reddish-green" makes the best sense when you've got two colors to designate. The fact that reddish is first doesn't mean the hat is more red, just that the color next to it is mixed in with the red, so "greenish-red" would work just as well. The hat can't be "red or green". I hope this helps.
Have a terrific day!
2006-08-11 17:31:20 · answer #2 · answered by ensign183 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I had to think about that one for a minute. In the case of "and/or" and "him/her" (or he/she), I say the construction like it's all one word (andor, himher heshe). However in the case of doctor/professor, i would pronounce the slash. I'm not sure I can say how or why I differentiate, I guess I'm just weird that way.
2006-08-11 17:30:31 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You're right.
2006-08-11 17:23:15 · answer #4 · answered by spunk113 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
and or. you are correct
2006-08-11 17:21:36 · answer #5 · answered by stick man 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋