I suspect there are worse problems with pinning down the exact definition of "or" if one looks closely; there are with most common words.
"and" has similar problems. Compare "a large and furry cat" with "a black and white cat". In the first case, both adjectives apply to the entire cat; in the second, each adjective applies to part of the cat, between them describing the whole.
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Date: 2014-02-17 02:11 pm (UTC)"and" has similar problems. Compare "a large and furry cat" with "a black and white cat". In the first case, both adjectives apply to the entire cat; in the second, each adjective applies to part of the cat, between them describing the whole.