A slash is used to create either/or words and Uniform Resource Locator (URL) Web addresses.

• Almost All Uses Are in Nonfiction.

The slash in either/or words should rarely be used. Wherever possible, use or instead of the slash. Most writers avoid he/she, his/hers, and him/her as singular genderless pronouns. While the awkward he or she, his or hers, and him or her, is grammatically acceptable, most writers prefer a plural sentence structure using they, their, and them. Slashes are used to separate elements of Internet addresses (the URLs). Poetry uses a slash between spaces to indicate a line break.

1. You can search a rhyming dictionary at this URL: http://www.rhymer.com/.
2. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, / Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, / While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, / As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. / “Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—Only this, and nothing more.” — Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven

• Fiction Use is Rare.

As a general rule, don’t use slashes in storytelling. They will naturally show up in the few cases where they are necessary.

1. Before the accident, Tyler was an owner/operator for Jackson Trucking.
2. William turned the dial on his AM/FM tube radio, still working since 1962.