# I don't get this bumper sticker. English Grammar Nazi's needed, I think **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 15, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110 "2005-08-15T17:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/1 "2005-08-15T17:13:35Z")
[Here](http://www.bumperart.com/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=2004072208&productID=5574) **Not Either But Both And** ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/2 "2005-08-15T17:15:54Z")
I don’t quite get it, either. I think it helps, though, if you write it **Not “Either Or” but “Both And”**. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/3 "2005-08-15T17:23:36Z")
The only thing this makes me think of is that old saying, “When faced with a choice, take both.” or that Yogism, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/4 "2005-08-15T17:26:19Z")
I’ve never seen this before, but after a minute or two of parsing, I understand it to mean, “Don’t make me choose Either A or B, I want Both A and B.” YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Zog\_10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c57346/32.png) [@Zog\_10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zog_10)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/5 "2005-08-15T17:30:39Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > [Here](http://www.bumperart.com/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=2004072208&productID=5574) > > **Not Either But Both And** This is totally a WAG, but generally western philosophy is called “either/or” philosophy - that is something either has a property or doesn’t (i.e. “A” or “Not A”). Eastern philosophy is often seen in terms of “both/and” - to use the same example, something is both “A” and “Not A” simultaneously - it’s a Zen thing as I recall. So it may be a sublte jibe at traditional thinking, or something like that. Given some of the stickers on that site, it wouldn’t surprise me. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/6 "2005-08-15T18:17:01Z")
I’d put it on something that’s considered a luxury, meaning that you didn’t have to decide between the luxury item and something normal, you got both. ex: “I didn’t choose _either_ a food processor _or_ a 24 carat gold chef’s knife - I got _both_ a food processor _and_ a 24 carat gold chef’s knife!” Not all that clever, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/7 "2005-08-15T18:23:50Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > **I don’t get this bumper sticker. English Grammar Nazi’s needed, I think** > > [Here](http://www.bumperart.com/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=2004072208&productID=5574) > > **Not Either But Both And** It’s _Nazis_. No apostophe. **d&r** ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/8 "2005-08-15T18:25:21Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > No apostophe. **shakes fist at the sky** Damn you, Gaudere! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/9 "2005-08-15T20:54:18Z")
Try Googling and see what comes up. I just did, and religious pages seemed to dominate the results. It looks like it’s supposed to be “not either-or, but both-and.” You know how in formal logic “or” means one or the other or both? Well, “either-or” (or “either/or”) is a way of indicating our commonsense understand of “or” meaning one or the other but not both. Whoever wrote this verbaige seems to misunderstand the logic by going for parallelism instead: “either/or” is parallel with “both/and.” see? What the author missed is that “either/or” is really one item, not two, so the parallelism really doesn’t work in this case. So what it should say is “not either/or, but and,” meaning that instead of two mutually exclusive alternatives, let’s have them at the same time. Because of the broad range of sites returned, I doubt this is something that represents a cohesive notion, so much as it is just an ignorant (no offense) soundbite popular with those who prefer slogans to thought. That’s my WAG, I hope you enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/10 "2005-08-15T21:40:19Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > **shakes fist at the sky** > > Damn you, Gaudere! Never explain, never apologize. But I’ll handle the explanation. You were simply shortening the phrase, “English Grammar Nazi is needed, I think.” Without that “is,” you’d have a sentence fragment, and we all know you wouldn’t commit such a grammatical sin in a thread title! Before someone complains that “An” should precede “English,” I’m assuming that “English Grammar Nazi” is someone’s name. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![VegemiteMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/df788c/32.png) [@VegemiteMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegemiteMoose)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/11 "2005-08-15T21:49:27Z")
Try saying it really fast until the words sort of blur together. See, funny eh? Nah, I’m just messin with ya. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/12 "2005-08-16T01:43:02Z")
Conjunction junction What’s your function? now it’s stuck in your head nay-nay nay na-nay-ya ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/13 "2005-08-16T01:49:32Z")
Why not both instead? There’s the answer if you’re clever! ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/14 "2005-08-16T02:31:59Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Conjunction junction > What’s your function? > > now it’s stuck in your head nay-nay nay na-nay-ya **Paging Zebra. Please report to the back alleyway for your beating. Thank you!** ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/15 "2005-08-16T03:59:30Z")
> [@BumperArt](#): > > **They printed** on high quality waterproof self-adhesive paper… I wouldn’t worry too much about parsing the content of the sticker when the description has grammar like the bit I highlighted above. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/16 "2005-08-16T04:25:08Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > **Paging Zebra. Please report to the back alleyway for your beating. Thank you!** Wait 'til you hear about **Interplanet Janet**. She’s a galaxy girl. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/17 "2005-08-16T12:36:17Z")
It could be not either pro-choice or pro-family, but both pro-choice and pro-family, or maybe not either supporting the troops or condemning the war, but supporting the troops and condemning the war. Or maybe not either gay or straight, but both gay and straight. ---
**Author:** ![Corrvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@Corrvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corrvin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-bumper-sticker-english-grammar-nazis-needed-i-think/317110/18 "2005-08-16T14:04:27Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > …Or maybe not either gay or straight, but both gay and straight. I knew I missed my chance for a really witty bisexual polyamorous comment. Corrvin (wondering if I could get away with nicknaming my boyfriends Both and And)