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Answer: Apart from fractions, the slash has almost no good uses. Decide whether you mean "and" or "or," and write that word.

Rules

• "And/or" is the classic case: writers mean either "or" or "and" but push the job of deciding onto the audience, which makes the writing ambiguous.
• In the few cases where you truly mean both, write out "either X, or Y, or both."
• When a slash joins equal or like terms, a hyphen is often more appropriate, as in "faculty-student ratio."
• Between words, a forward slash can be ambiguous; don't use one in place of and or or.
• Unless a symbol is part of a name or branding, write the word: "and," not an ampersand or a plus sign.

See also

• plain-language-simple-everyday-words
• plain-language-abbreviations-and-consistency

Claims

• id: C1 claim: The slash has almost no good uses outside fractions. source: S1 evidence: "Apart from fractions, the slash has almost no good uses."

• id: C2 claim: When both meanings are intended, spell out the alternatives. source: S1 evidence: "write out \"either X, or Y, or both.\""

• id: C3 claim: Digital.gov says not to use a slash in place of and or or. source: S2 evidence: "do not use one to replace words like and or or"

• id: C4 claim: Digital.gov prefers the word over a symbol unless the symbol is branding. source: S2 evidence: "Unless a symbol is part of a name or branding, use the word"

Sources

• [S1] Don’t use slashes. GSA / PlainLanguage.gov archive. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GSA/plainlanguage.gov/main/_pages/guidelines/conversational/dont-use-slashes.md . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-09.

• [S2] Digital.gov style guide. Digital.gov (GSA). https://digital.gov/style-guide/ . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-09.

License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Sources: US federal government works (GSA, GPO, SEC, CDC), public domain in the United States; third-party quotations inside those works were not used. Text was condensed and changed from the originals.

@misc{iil_note_wmhfamdf,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{Replace and/or and other slashes with the word you mean}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-09},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/plain-avoid-slashes/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:wmhfamdf. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

Markdown

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