Is the use of 'xor' acceptable in written English?

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Ant_222

#316573 Thu, 18 Jan 07 01:24 AM

«Oh you can tell maths wasn't my thing at school.»

In return we have so nice a grammarian here at forum!

Ant_222

Joined on Sun, May 21 2006

Podolsk, Russia

Contributing Member (1,588)

nona the brit

#316575 Thu, 18 Jan 07 01:26 AM

nona the brit

Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004

England

Veteran Member (11,502)

The name says it all.

CalifJim

#316580 Thu, 18 Jan 07 02:04 AM

Would you like a cup of tea xor coffee?

Absolutely not! xor is a symbol of logic, not a word spoken in ordinary conversation! Smile [:)]

The or of ordinary English is already taken to mean exclusive or in most contexts, especially in the absence of any other linguistic clues to the contrary. The question is how to turn it into an inclusive or (when that's even possible), and that's pretty easy.

Would you like a cup or tea or coffee or both? *
Are you taking your vacation in Italy or France this year -- or both?
We could have rice or potatoes with the roast chicken tonight -- unless you'd like both.

But note the following.

Are you crazy or just pretending to be? (Here both is not possible. This or is 'exclusively exclusive'.) Smile [:)]

If you divide 10 by 2, do you get 4 or 5? (Another exclusively exclusive case.)
I'm going to the movies. You can come along or stay home; it's your choice. (Again.)

*ambiguous for the following two.
Would you like [a cup of tea] or [a cup of coffee] or [a cup of coffee and a cup of tea]?
Would you like [a cup of tea] or [a cup of coffee] or [a cup of [coffee and tea (together in one cup)]]?
The absurdity of these choices in a real situation shows how unnecessary it usually is to specify the type of or. Our knowledge of the real world does almost all the work of disambiguating the problem cases. The distinction between types of or is needed only in mathematical logic and similar disciplines. That's where the symbol xor was invented and where it is used.

Hope that helps.
CJ

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (18,340)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

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DouglasM6

#316613 Thu, 18 Jan 07 03:41 AM

Ant_222 wrote:
Come on, Doug, don't be formal. XOR - eXclusive OR. It's not a conjunction, it's the name of logical operator! So, you may freely use it as such. So, you can say: We can use XOR to do simple block-based encryption by XORing blocks of initial text with some fixed block of the same length. The latter will be the key. Due to XOR's being symmetrical, we can decipher a thus made cryptogram by exactly the same operation, which is a profit from the programmer's point of view. P.S.: By the way, where are you from?

Point taken re XOR

I suppose that after a bit of introspection, the line between what is acceptable in technical contexts and what is part of standard English is somewhat fuzzy subjectively. Further, when confronted with a sentence, either written or spoken, very frequently images spring to mind, so that, for example, when I read the word ‘and’, I visualise it not merely as a conjunction joining two sentences, but as a logical operator on the clauses either side.

Someone asks, “Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?” and I’m thinking, “Here we go again …”

The names of Boolean operators AND, NOT, OR are, no doubt, derived from the conjunctions used in English (conveying to the logician something of the same meaning that would loom in the mind the non-technically inclined) and not vice verse. But why not, in the case of XOR? Originally words reserved for technocrats merge into common usage, and even change their part of speech:

eg From “Google”, the company / search engine to “google” the verb, arguably part of the English language now.

And many words now accepted were coined by one traceable person, fired the imagination of the world and took over.

So, I concede defeat in respect of XOR. For the moment – check your 2020 dictionary! Wink [;)]

Ant_222 wrote:
P.S.: By the way, where are you from?

Born and educated in Zimbabwe, 10 years in New Zealand, 2.5 years in Austalia, where I now reside. My accent has been labelled British, Dutch and South African, never Australasian, and described as “clipped”. I have no idea how one puts all that together.