drop that rifle, or/and I shall kill you

[ademoglu]

Hi,

- Drop that rifle, or I shall kill you.
- Drop that rifle, and I shall kill you.

'The question 'Do you think there is any difference between the two?'' was asked me yesterday, and I said ''No, there is no.'' And my friend tried to explain that to me, but I could not understand.

Could you please tell me if there is any difference or not?

Thanks.

 

[Tdol]

1 If you don't drop that rifle, I shall kill you.
2 If you drop that rifle, I shall kill you.

:snipersm:

 

[Matthew Wai]

- Drop that rifle, and I shall kill you.

Can it mean 'Please drop that rifle, and then I shall kill you.'?

 

[SoothingDave]

Can it mean 'Please drop that rifle, and then I shall kill you.'?

Well, this is probably not a situation where politeness comes into play.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hi,

- Drop that rifle, or I shall kill you.
- Drop that rifle, and I shall kill you.

'The question 'Do you think there is any difference between the two?'' was asked me yesterday, and I said ''No, there is not.'' And my friend tried to explain that to me, but I could not understand.

Could you please tell me if there is any difference or not?

Thanks.

You're asking about the difference between AND and OR. Your friend is right. The two sentences give opposite instructions.

The first tells me to drop the rifle. The second tells me NOT to drop the rifle.

The word OR gives a choice: EITHER I drop the rifle OR you will kill me. To live, I must drop the rifle.

The word AND describes two things that go together: If I drop the rifle, you will will kill me. To live, I must NOT drop it!

In the U.S., we would usually say "I will" or I'll" - not "I shall."

 

[Rover_KE]

If he's going to kill you anyway, you should use the rifle to shoot him first.

 

[Raymott]

I couldn't resist quoting Monty Python here:

"Presenter: When the Piranhas left school they were called up but were found by an Army Board to be too unstable even for National Service. Denied the opportunity to use their talents in the service of their country, they began to operate what they called 'The Operation'. They would select a victim and then threaten to beat him up if he paid the so-called protection money. Four months later they started another operation which the called 'The Other Operation'. In this racket they selected another victim and threatened not to beat him up if he didn't pay them. One month later they hit upon 'The Other Other Operation'. In this, the victim was threatened that if he didn't pay them, they would beat him up. This, for the Piranha brothers, was the turning point."

http://www.ibras.dk/montypython/episode14.htm

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

If he's going to kill you anyway, you should use the rifle to shoot him first.

I was leaving that alone!