2021-05-18 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด – B – backslash & slash & virgule

Revision B

2021-05-18

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด – B – backslash  & slash & virgule

แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น

ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค

Dictionary.com

ออกเสียง backslash = ‘BAK -slash’

ออกเสียง slash = ‘SLASH’

ออกเสียง virgule = ‘VUR-gyool’

Farlex Trivia Dictionary

slash

=- The slash is also called a virgule, diagonal, separatrix, slant, and solidus.

See also related terms for slant.

The Farlex Grammar Book > English Punctuation

Slashes

What is a slash?

The slash (/) —technicallyknown as a virgule

but also called a slant, solidus,

or stroke (the common name in British English)

—serves a number of purposes inwriting,

essentially standing in for other words

as a quick and clear way ofshowing the connection between two things.

A slash is conventionally used without spaces

between it and the words it connects

(although it is also common to see spacesused,

especially

if one or both of the things being joined contain multiple words).

Be aware that

usinga slash is generally considered informal by style guides,

and its use is discouraged in formal, academic, and professional writing.

The only timea slash is considered acceptable in formal writing

is when citinglines of poetry, which we’ll look at later.

The slash must also not be confused witha backslash ( \ ),

which is used in computer programming but not in written English.

When a distinction between the two needs to be made,

the slash is sometimes referred to asa forward slash.

In place of or

One of the most common usesfor the slash

is to stand in forthe word or,

expressing a choice between two things.

For example:

• “Each candidate must be sure to provide his/her references before the interview.”
• “This is not a simple right/wrong issue; it has much more complexity than that.
• “Please limit your responses to yes/no.”
• “Ask your parent/guardian before purchasing any online content.”

It’s also common to find the slash

used in this waywith shortenings of words.

For example,

it’s often found used with a shortenedform of “she or he”

as a way of providing analternative that looks more gender-neutral,

as in:

• “If any student has concerns, s/he should speak to one of the school’s counselors right away.”

In other constructions,

words are represented by their first letter(often capitalized):

• “The test will consist of 24 T/F [true or false] question and six short-answer questions.”
• “During the interview, you’ll be asked several Y/N [yes or no] questions.”

Remember,

in more formalwriting, it is always better to use or instead of a slash,

and the shortened wordswe saw above should be written out in full.

and/or

One somewhat specializeduse of the slash

is in the term and/or, meaning“one or the other or both.”

Because or is already presentin the compound,

the slash does not represent a second or,

but the implication of a choice between the two remains nevertheless.

For example:

• “Upon conviction, drivers may face a fine of $5,000 and/or six months in jail.”
• “The seminar will be conducted by the general manager and/or an HR representative.”
• “Expect rain and/or snow over the weekend.”

We can also use and/or withmore than two items,

generally meaning “one or more.”

For example:

• “Please provide proof of identity, address, current residency status, and/or an existing employment permit (as applicable) when filing your visa application.”
• “Any and all information, illustrations, and/or downloadable content on this website are purely for educational purposes only.”

Again, and/or should be avoided in any formal, academic, or professional writing.

In some cases,

and/or can simply be replaced with or

in cases when the possible inclusion of the other option is implied,

as in:

• “Expect rain or snow over the weekend.”
• “Please provide proof of identity, address, current residency status, or existing employment permit (as applicable) when filing your visa application.”

In other instances,

and may dothe work of and/or, with or

being either impliedor unnecessary:

• “Any and all information, illustrations, and downloadable content on this website are purely for educational purposes only.”

Sometimes or is not enough toexpress this relationship clearly.

If we need to make it explicitly clear

that one, the other, or both of two options are possible,

we could use or andthen follow the options with or both.

Alternatively, we could replace or with a comma,

treating or both as the third item in a list.

For instance:

• “Upon conviction, drivers may face a fine of $5,000 or six months in jail or both.”
• “The seminar will be conducted by the general manager, an HR representative, or both.”

Finally, if we decide to use and/or,

we must be sure that it isgrammatically appropriate for the sentence

—it can only be used when one or both (or all) options are possible,

not when we can choose only one or the other.

For example:

• “You are required to bring either a pen and/or a pencil.”

(Incorrect—because the word either is used, only one is required, not both.)

In placeof per

Another very commonuse of the slash is to stand in for the word per

(or sometimes a/an) when writing about rates.

For example:

• “Rent is $650/month, due on the first day of each month.”
• “Experts have estimated that the state loses at least 300 million gallons of water a month (or roughly 10 million gallons/day).”

As when the slash replacesthe word or,

it’s very common to seeabbreviated forms of words

when the slash is used in place of per.

For instance:

• “Rent is $650/mo., due on the first day of each month.”
• “Experts have estimated that the state loses at least 300 million gallons of water a month (or roughly 10 million gal./day).”

Expressing connection, conflict, or contrast

It’s also common to see a slash

used toexpress connection, conflict, or contrast

between two things,

a function that is normally reservedfor an en dash

(or, more informally, a hyphen)

or the Latin loanword cum

(meaning in this case “also functioningas” or “as well as being”).

In place of en dashes

We sometimes use an en dash ( – )

when we want toexpress a direct connection

between two people, things, or places.

It’s not uncommon forslashes

to be usedinstead of en dashes for this purpose:

they’re easier to type than en dashes

while stillmaintaining the meaning

(which might be lost if we used hyphens instead).

Just be aware that theen dash is the preferred punctuation,

So, you should only use the slash in informal writing.

For example:

• “The president is trying to drum up support for the Mexico–U.S. trade deal.”
• “The president is trying to drum up support for the Mexico/U.S. trade deal.”

• “The Republican–Democrat divide on the issue has only widened in recent months.”
• “The Republican/Democrat divide on the issue has only widened in recent months.”

• “We will begin boarding the Denver–Chicago–Dublin flight shortly.”
• “We will begin boarding the Denver/Chicago/Dublin flight shortly.”

• “The Seattle–New England football game will air at 5 PM (EST).”
• “The Seattle/New England football game will air at 5 PM (EST).”

                                   

In place of cum

The Latin word cum is a preposition meaning “with”

(as in the term summa cum laude, “with highest honors”).

In modern writing,

when joining two ormore separate nouns

that function asa single entity,

it has also come to mean

“combined with,” “

as well as being,” or

“also functioning as.”

It is often, but not always,italicized,

and it is joined with hyphensbetween the two things it connects;

if we choose to use a slash instead of cum,

we replace the hyphens as well as the word.

Note thatwe can also use a single hyphen this way as well.

For example:

• “I built a bicycle-cum-generator to keep the lights on if the power ever goes out.”
• “I built a bicycle/generator to keep the lights on if the power ever goes out.”
• “I built a bicycle-generator to keep the lights on if the power ever goes out.”

• “I started up my own business as an agent-cum-promoter about five years ago.”
• “I started up my own business as an agent/promoter about five years ago.”
• “I started up my own business as an agent-promoter about five years ago.”

• “The novelist-cum-screenwriter has found great success in Hollywood.”
• “The novelist/screenwriter has found great success in Hollywood.”
• “The novelist-screenwriter has found great success in Hollywood.”

Note that in some cases,

using a slash orhyphen is much more common than using cum.

This usually occurs with pairings thathave entered common vernacular,

as in:

• “This singer/songwriter’s work never fails to impress.”
• “The latest film from the acclaimed writer-director is sure to shock audiences.”

However, the slash is still discouraged for more formal writing

by many style guides;

if in doubt, use a hyphen.

Shorthand abbreviations

In very informalwriting

—especially quick, shorthand notes oroutlines

—we often find the slash

used to denote certainabbreviated forms of words or phrases.

Sometimesthe slash represents a portion of a word that is omitted,

while other timesit is used to join the initials of other words.

For example:

• “Our offices are open M/W/F [Monday, Wednesday, and Friday] from 8 AM to 4 PM.”
• “The system failed b/c [because] there are problems w/ [with] the database.”
• “Please send correspondence c/o [care of] my attorney.”
• “Use hyphens b/w [between] compounds.”

Other abbreviations have become so standard

that they’ve been accepted into commonvernacular.

For example:

• “Our shop has been open 24/7 [24 hours a day, seven days a week] since we first started up 30 years ago.”
• “The entire world changed after 9/11 [September 11, 2001, the date of the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks in the United States].”

Expressing fractions

The slash is also used in mathematics to express a fraction

—the numerical portion of a largernumber.

One instance in whichwe commonly come across this

in day-to-day writing iswhen expressing a value (especially a score)

in contrast to the possible maximum.

The slash in this case functions in place ofthe words “out of.”

For example:

• “I loved the movie despite its flaws. I give it 3.5/4 stars.”
• “Your daughter received a 495/500 on our aptitude test, the highest score we’ve ever seen.”
• “When an error occurs, 9/10 times it will be due to a human mistake rather than the computer system.”

We can use the same format

when writing more standard ratios as well:

• “I’m already about 3/4 finished, so I should be done by Friday.”
• “The theater is only about 1/2 full.”

Note that inmore formal writing

we should try to avoid numerical ratios like these,

using full words wherever possible or appropriate.

For example:

• “Your daughter received a 495 out of 500 on our aptitude test, the highest score we’ve ever seen.”
• “When an error occurs, nine out of ten times it will be due to a human mistake rather than a problem with the computer system.”
• “I’m already about three-quarters finished, so I should be done by Friday.”
• “The theater is only about half full.”

Spans between years

When we are writing about something

that spansfrom one year to the next,

we can use a slash as an abbreviated way of indicating this range.

We do so by placing a slash immediately

after the end of the first year (written in full),

followed without a space by the last number of the second year.

For example:

• “Could you please forward us your tax information for 1998/9?”
• “For some reason I’m missing my 2006/7 school transcript.”

It’s also notuncommon to see a two-year span

written with the last two numbers of the second year,

as in:

• “The theater’s 2012/13 program is now available for pre-booking.”
• “The team’s 1978/79 season is still considered its greatest period of success.”

More formally, we would use en dashes to write such ranges.

Note as well thatwe can use en dashes

when we write the two years in full,

as well as for ranges that span more than two years;

however, slashes should not be used for this:

• “The team’s 1978–84 seasons are still considered its greatest period of success.”
• “The team’s 1978/84 seasons are still considered its greatest period of success.”

• “For some reason I’m missing my 2006–2007 school transcript.”
• “For some reason I’m missing my 2006/2007 school transcript.”

Writing dates

When writing a datenumerically,

we use a slash between the month andday (and year, if included).

For example:

• “Your appointment has been scheduled for 10/21 [October 21].”
• “The date of the ceremony is set for 11/16/2019 [November 16, 2019].”

Note that in British English, the day comes before the month:

• “Your appointment has been scheduled for 21/10.”
• “The date of the ceremony is set for 16/11/2019.”

Hyphens are also oftenused for numerical dates,

especiallyindifferent countries.

For instance:

• “Your appointment has been scheduled for 21-10.”
• “The date of the ceremony is set for 16-11-2019.”

Note thatsome style guides consider using the slash

to write the date to beinformal;

for more formal, academic, or professional writing,

write out the date in full.

Citing lines of poetry

All of the above usesfor the slash

are considered by nearly all style guides to be informal

(to varying degrees) in proper written English.

There is, however, one very specific use for slashes

that is considered formally appropriate:

denoting line breaksin poetry

when it is included as an in-textcitation

(meaning it is structured into the flow

of the overall sentence andparagraph).

When we use a slash in this way,

we put a space on either side of it;

it is the only circumstance

under whichspaces are required with a slash.

For example:

• “These motifs are used in Shakespeare’s

‘Sonnet 116’ inseveral famous verses: ‘

… Love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds,

/ Or bends with the remover to remove:

/ O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,

/ That looks on tempests and is never shaken.’”

Be aware that in-text citation of poetry

is generally limitedto four or five lines for academic writing;

if the citation islonger than that,

we include the lines beneath the opening sentence, indented and without quotation marks:

“Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,

in addition to its moral message, includes one of the simplest

yet most horrifying descriptions of being stranded at sea:

• All in a hot and copper sky,
• The bloody Sun, at noon,
• Right up above the mast did stand,
• No bigger than the Moon.

• Day after day, day after day,
• We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
• As idle as a painted ship
• Upon a painted ocean.

• Water, water, every where,
• And all the boards did shrink;
• Water, water, every where,
• Nor any drop to drink.

Common Errors in English Usage Dictionary

backslash

This is a slash: /.

Because the top of it leans forward,

it is sometimes called a “forward slash.”

This is a backslash:\.

Notice the way it leans back,

distinguishingit from the regular slash.

Slashes are often used to indicate

directories and subdirectories in computer systems

such as Unix and inWorld Wide Web addresses.

Unfortunately, many people, assuming “backslash”

is some sort of technical term

forthe regular slash, use the term incorrectly,

which risksconfusing those who know enough

to distinguish between the two

but not enough torealize that Web addresses never contain backslashes.

Newer browsers will silently correct this error, but older ones may not.