I’m sorry if this seems dumb. I tend to take things literally and “mutual” and “exclusive” seem to be antonyms but mutually exclusive is a term used a lot and it confuses the crap out of me. I’m a native English speaker also.
Does it mean that the two things CAN exist together? I feel like my brain does gymnastics trying to understand the term; I’m not a dumb person but this term just totally eludes me!
Please don’t attack me, just trying to not feel stupid.
In: 49
These answers are all great. I think maybe it’s the “mutually” part that is confusing you. It just means that each element, by itself, *means* that the other one cannot be present. If a coin lands heads, that *means* it cannot simultaneously have landed tails. If a man is a bachelor, that *means* he cannot simultaneously be married. Each element of the expression excludes the other – they **both** have that property. They mutually exclude each other.
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