Either
Why does the sentence below mean "Actually he did both" not that he just did one of them?
He was the only person either to call the police or to help the victim.
Top answer
Tara2 He was the only person either to call the police or to help the victim. I'm not sure that there is a satisfactory explanation for why he did both. Because of "only", I read the sentence as Nobody else except him called the police, and nobody else except him helped the victim.
- Tara2 He was the only person either to call the police or to help the victim.
- I'm not sure that there is a satisfactory explanation for why he did both.
- Because of "only", I read the sentence as Nobody else except him called the police, and nobody else except him helped the victim.
- It's the same "him" in both cases, so it seems logical to me that he did both things.
- It seems to involve what are called "DeMorgan's laws" in logic.
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Tara2He was the only person either to call the police or to help the victim.
I'm not sure that there is a satisfactory explanation for why he did both.
Because of "only", I read the sentence as
Nobody else except him called the police, and nobody else except him helped the victim.
It's the same "him" in both cases, so it seems logic
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