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January 24

The word "either"

Being very technical and pedantic, is the word "either" only supposed to be used when comparing two items? Or is it also properly used when listing more than two items?

Example 1: The customer has two choices. The customer must choose either "Selection A" or "Selection B". (I assume this is proper use of the word "either".)

Example 2: The customer has three choices. The customer must choose either "Selection A", "Selection B", or "Selection C". (Is this proper use of the word "either"?)

Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:40, 24 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

With more than two selections, use the phrase "one of". So example #2, you would say 'The customer must choose one of "Selection A", "Selection B", or "Selection C"' Either is strictly for choosing between two, in formal English, AFAIK. --Jayron 32 18:54, 24 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The word "either" is not "very technical and pedantic", as it's used by ordinary people all the time. But perhaps your opening clause was a reference to your good self; in that case, your claimed status falls to the ground as you have been a victim of the dreaded dangling modifier. :) -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:29, 24 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

You could just look it up in a dictionary: Used before the first of two (or occasionally more) given alternatives. Henry ^Flower 20:43, 24 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

That's Oxford. But similarly:

at Merriam-Webster: used as a function word before two or more coordinate words, phrases, or clauses...
at American Heritage: used before the first of two or more coordinates or clauses...
at Collins: you use either in front of the first of two or more alternatives, when you are stating the only possibilities or choices that there are...

So example 2 is an accepted usage. There are other senses of "either" where it refers to one of two, but when it's a conjunction like that, it can be one of any number. --76.69.46.228 (talk) 20:58, 24 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

In sentences like: "you should either drink or chew or swallow", I can't think of any other option, besides "either...or...or". The same is true for "neither...nor...nor". HOTmag (talk) 23:39, 24 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The big Oxford offers "either of" as with any one of more than two. Preference may now be for "any of" in the same context. Spenser: "So parted they, as eithers way them led."Tamanoeconomico (talk) 01:12, 25 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I know our language is changing, I see the signs everywhere. Some of the changes are all right by me, but a few of them make me cringe. I would never use "either" with three or more. In my (American) English, "either" is a choice between two things only: Either chew or swallow! But Chew, swallow, or spit! —Stephen (talk) 05:21, 25 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

What about "neither...nor...nor"? HOTmag (talk) 01:37, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

It particularly annoys me when people say "at either end" instead of "at both ends".--Shantavira|^{feed me} 10:29, 25 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I prefer "at both ends", but the older expression, as used by Hobbes (1628), Scott (1819) and Tennyson (1842), and recorded in the Macmillan Dictionary is still valid. Dbfirs 11:43, 25 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I know that "at either end" seems ambiguous, but I really like it. Even though it appears to be ambiguous, I always understand exactly what it means, although I can't explain how I know. There is something about it that makes it unambiguous. —Stephen (talk) 10:48, 26 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I think I can explain. If you say "there is a nail at either end of this stick" the hearer visualises two nails, one at each end. If you say "there is a nail at both ends of this stick" the visualisation is slightly more difficult. 82.15.199.219 (talk) 15:36, 26 January 2019 (UTC) wp:deny[reply]

Neither one of those makes sense to me. "There is a nail at each end of this stick" is completely clear. --Khajidha (talk) 21:36, 26 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

"There is a nail at either end of this stick" makes perfect sense to me, and has the advantage of being idiomatic and interesting. "At each end of this stick" is equally clear, but bland and ordinary. I much prefer the former. —Stephen (talk) 08:26, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Your "idiomatic and interesting" is my "idiotic and incomprehensible". I prefer using clear phrasing. --Khajidha (talk) 13:45, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

In any language, meanings can be obvious to native speakers, but not so obvious to others. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:43, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

"There is a nail at either end..." is an awful construction and can be downright ambiguous. Does it mean there is a nail at one end or the other but not both? I'm with Khajidha on this, that only "There is a nail at both ends..." is absolutely unambiguous. Akld guy (talk) 18:15, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

A single nail at two different ends? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:19, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Which is why it doesn't make sense. --Khajidha (talk) 18:34, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Except that I am a native speaker. --Khajidha (talk) 18:17, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

There is a nail at each end. - even better. Akld guy (talk) 19:33, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

That works too. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:05, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I said that yesterday. --Khajidha (talk) 21:57, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The idiom is perhaps dated and that might be why it sounds odd to you. The older usage of "either" meaning "each" is well documented (see above). Dbfirs 22:22, 27 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]