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divbzero

‘Else’ is not commonly used in English today but the meaning does fit. From Webster’s (1913):

Else, adverb or conjunction

1. Besides; except that mentioned; in addition; as, nowhere else; no one else.

2. Otherwise; in the other, or the contrary, case; if the facts were different.

“For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it.” – Ps. li. 16.

After ‘or’, else is sometimes used expletively, as simply noting an alternative. “Will you give thanks, … or else shall I?” – Shak.

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> Else’ is not commonly used in English today

I feel like I’m going crazy reading this thread today. Else is not a rare or archaic word.

Yeah; way before I knew how to program I would still say "He said do this or else!"

"or else" now has its own separate dictionary entry because people use the two word combo as a conjunction instead of just plain "or" or "else":

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/or%20else

> [He said to do this, or I'll regret it.]

> [He said to do this, else I'll regret it.]

I imagine people couldn't decide on which conjunction to use since they both work, used both incorrectly, stopped using plain "else", then started thinking they needed to prefix "or" before "else". Dictionaries then adjusted, removing the conjunction entry of "else" and adding "or else" as a conjunctive phrase.

Else doesn't sound archaic to my ears.

"When you go shopping make sure to buy flour or else we won't be able to bake the cake"

"otherwise" is a more common word choice but "else" is definitely in the active vocabulary of modern English speakers.

"or else" is redundant. One can omit one word or the other and it still works.

> When you go shopping make sure to buy flour, or we won't be able to bake the cake.

> When you go shopping make sure to buy flour, else we won't be able to bake the cake.

EDIT: TIL: Dictionaries don't commonly define "else" as a conjunction, except for Wiktionary. Still sounds natural to my ears, so this is a surprise.

It occurs to me that this would be similar to "so" no longer being a conjunction and people instead using "and so".

> Make sure to buy flour, and we'll be able to bake the cake.

> Make sure to buy flour, so we'll be able to bake the cake.

> Make sure to buy flour, and so we'll be able to bake the cake.

That’s “or else”. Bare else is no longer common.

Someone else might disagree with that

That’s not bare else.

There's also "everything else" and similar phrases

That's an adjective. This is about the conjunction.

You can also say "elsewise", which to me still sounds a little old school, but more natural than just using "else" like we do in programming languages.

It's almost tempting to reach for "elsewhen" or "elsewhy", since we have "elsewhere". But if saying "elsewise" feels like chatting with a very elderly relative, saying those ones feels more like a seance with distant ancestors. But apparently it used to be a thing!

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/elsewho#English

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/elsewhither#English

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/elsewhence#English

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/elsehow#English

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/elsewards#English

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/elsewhat#English

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/otherwhat#English

"Else" is definitely extremely commonly used in English today, just not in the US. The UK says "else" instead of otherwise. "We'll see if the bar is open, else we can go across the street".

It's not uncommon in the US. I'm confused why people think so. It must be regional or cultural variation? Maybe you know it if you're over 35, else not?

It’s often used as a threat, without specifying the threat, do this, or else!

Except for the phrase "or else!"

I came here to say this.

I my head as a child I instantly understood and thought "Ahhh, they mean like 'OR else this happens.'

I have always assumed it was a boolean logic thing meant to help show that it wasn't an AND, but 'or' had already been used as a keyword so they did 'or else' and dropped the reserved 'or'.

"...or else you'll..."

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