Can you be a little more precise in the areas that are causing you confusion?

AnonymousI'm so confused on these sentences. Thanks for any help.

1. School dress code: Clothing that is suggestive, revealing, or in poor taste is prohibited.
   
2. Ad: Savings up to 70 percent on selected items throughout the store.
   
3. Student Code of Conduct: Smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages, illegal drug use, and sexual impropriety are prohib

Hi,

Hmmm.

A, B, C and D are prohibited. All of these things are prohibited.

A, B, C or D is prohibited. One of them is prohibited, although we don't know which one.

Best wishes, Clive

Hi Clive

I have found the following. What I don't understand is the sentence: Smoking, eating or drinking are not permitted. Why 'are' and not 'is' is used?

Search Results

Oxford University Google Search

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Hi,

Because it's a tricky point for native speakers, and we don't think about it deeply for 10 minutes before we say it or write it.

It states 'Smoking, eating or drinking are not permitted ...'. So it would appear that 'or' is the correct preposition.

Hi,

When I said such things are tricky for native speakers, I meant that discussions of statements like these tend to become discussions of logic, and we don't think or speak like computers.

Are you perhaps thinking that everything written by Oxford people is sacrosanct? Oxford people are not perfect.

Yoong LiatIt states 'Smoking, eating or drinking are not permitted ...'. So it would appear that 'or' is the correct preposition.

Hi Yoong Liat,

Since Clive mentioned about 'logic', I think in this case, logic is what in the minds of the people who use are with or, especially in de

Hi,

Two law students were in an Oxford library. They each took out their lunch and began to eat. The librarian came and said., "You are not allowed to eat your lunch here'.

They swapped lunches and continued to eat.

Clive

Hi Clive,

With such a witty note, you made my day.