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She may/might be honest.

This sentence already has the meaning that

She may/might not be honest.

1. Why do we sometimes say:

She might and/or might not be honest.

2. Which conjunction is (more) correct: "and" or "or"?

So, the question is not on when to use "might" and when to use "may", it is about why each comes along with its negation, and what difference that usage makes to the meaning. Is it just about emphasis?

The second question is about the conjunction that should be used between them: "and" or "or"? Both versions are used frequently on the web.

Mari-Lou A
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Sasan
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    When you emphasize the "might not" as much as the "might" you make clear that either outcome is a possibility instead of merely casting some uncertainty on a given statement. This is actually important when either outcome is acceptable and the structure is frequently used when conveying something close to "regardless" or mentioning something is irrelevant. Even if not strictly necessary in a logical sense it adds emphasis. – Tom22 Jun 24 '17 at 23:57
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    What @Tom22 said. If something might be true (possibility A), this obviously implies the alternate that it might *not* be true (possibility B). Until such times as either of A or B is established to be true or false, A *and* B are both possible. But although by strict pedantic/anal logic one could/should therefore use *and*, we rarely do. – FumbleFingers Jun 25 '17 at 00:33
  • @FumbleFingers So you really think the question is a duplicate, even after the last edition? – Sasan Jun 25 '17 at 00:57
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    about 12,200 results in Google books for might and might not and 400,000 hits for might or might not – Mari-Lou A Jun 25 '17 at 05:12
  • @Sasan: That should be after the last edit, not edition. Which in itself is further support for my closevote - I voted to migrate this question to English Language Learners, not to close it as a duplicate. It seemed to me the "side question" about may/might** was trivial, so I ignored it, but the primary *and/or* question is almost meaningless to native speakers - which is presumably why other closevoters didn't really address it at all. – FumbleFingers Jun 25 '17 at 11:52
  • @FumbleFingers How writing "edition" instead of "edit" in a comment can be a further support for your close-vote on a separate question? It is like I say, and this actually makes more sense, that your judgment here in this comment is further support that your judgment on the question is problematic! – Sasan Jun 25 '17 at 12:13
  • No - it's your English that's problematic! :) I mean no disrespect, but if you'd followed the *we rarely do* link in my original comment, you'd have seen that the usage chart for might and* might not* virtually flatlines against the idiomatic standard *or* version. And if you drill down to examine some of the (relatively few) instances of the former, you'll also discover that even many of them are actually "mentions", not proper "uses" (they're simply referencing the two linguistic elements "might" AND "might not", often with scare quotes to indicate the "mention" status). – FumbleFingers Jun 25 '17 at 13:10
  • @FumbleFingers My question in my last comment was how my mistake in choosing the right word (edition/edit) in a comment can be further support for your close-vote on a separate question I asked. – Sasan Jun 25 '17 at 13:21
  • Admittedly for a non-native speaker your English is quite good - but even so, I can be quite certain you're not a native speaker purely on the basis of misuses such as *edition* there. And by and large, the target audience here at ELU is native speakers (and those nns who'd be unlikely to ask about either of the two choices you've raised here). But it's not really a matter of saying ELU doesn't particularly want your question - more that you yourself would probably get more helpful responses on a site dedicated to helping non-native speakers better understand how English works. – FumbleFingers Jun 25 '17 at 15:11
  • @FumbleFingers You still haven't answered my question. My question was how my mistake in choosing the right word (edition/edit) in a comment can be further support for your close-vote on a separate question I asked. I simply think they doesn't relate with each other. – Sasan Jun 25 '17 at 15:30
  • To repeat myself; I never addressed the *may/might* issue at all (which is arguably On Topic, but would obviously be a duplicate anyway), so my closevote was purely in respect of the point regarding *and/or. And for that second issue, I don't understand why you say "both versions are found frequently on the web" - I'd say my own NGrams link conclusively demonstrates a massive* preference for *or. In short, it's just not a question native speakers would be likely to ask, because they'd already know the answer. And why* this is so isn't really a meaningful question here. – FumbleFingers Jun 25 '17 at 15:46
  • @FumbleFingers I don't think a mistake in a comment has anything to do with a separate question, and I think a judgment who connect them is not sound. Moreover, being native speaker or not is not relevant at all here. That way of arguing shows that your are mean and rude in your judgement, though! – Sasan Jun 25 '17 at 23:40
  • @Sasan: I'm sorry you feel that way. I've been attempting to explain to you why *I* voted to close your question - because my reason was different to those of the other three closevoters, and I can't answer for why they only addressed the *may/might* issue, not the *and/or* one. You have your "bare" answer to that second question (*or* is overwhelmingly favoured) here in comments by myself and Mari-Lou (herself a non-native speaker). As I said, the issue of why this is so is really just a matter of opinion, but on ELL you'd probably get a better perspective on the usage. – FumbleFingers Jun 26 '17 at 12:26

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