mthomas,
1) I do not have a,b, or c.
That means
i) You don't have a.
ii) You don't have b.
iii) You don't have c.
2) I do not have a, b, and c.
That means you do not have all three (a,b, and c) combined.
But you might have
a
or you might have
b
or you might have
c
or you might have
a and b, but not c
or you might have
a and c, but not b
or you might have
b and c, but not a.
Compare and contrast:
Pair #1
Fred: On your farm, do you have cows, horses, or chickens?
Yes, we have cows and horses, but not chickens.
Pair #2
Fred: On your farm, do you have cows, horses, and chickens.
Sue: On our farm, we do not have cows, horses, *and* chickens. We have cows and horses, but no chickens.
So it depends on your logic. This can be especially important when writing contracts or writing computer code.
I hope this helps.
MountainHiker
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