or else

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Conjunction

or else

1. Otherwise or as an alternative.

   Go now, or else you'll have to stay all night.

   • c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act (please specify |act=I or II), scene ii:

     If you wil willingly remaine with me,
     You ſhall haue honors, as your merits be:
     Or els you ſhal be forc’d with ſlauerie.

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     He shall do this, or else I do recant / The pardon that I late pronounced here.

Translations

as an alternative

Arabic: بِطَرِيقَة أُخْرَى (bi-ṭarīqa ʔuḵrā), وَإِلَّا (wa-ʔillā) Armenian: այլապես (hy) (aylapes), թե չէ (tʻe čʻē) Azerbaijani: əks təqdirdə, yoxsa (az), ya da (az) Chinese: Mandarin: 要不然 (zh) (yàobùrán), 要不 (zh) (yàobù), 不然 (zh) (bùrán), 否則 / 否则 (zh) (fǒuzé) Danish: ellers Estonian: või muidu (et), vastasel juhul Finnish: tai muuten, muutoin (fi) French: sinon (fr), autrement (fr) Georgian: თუარადა (tuarada), თორემ (torem) German: sonst (de), anders (de), andernfalls (de) Greek: ειδάλλως (el) (eidállos) Ancient: εἰ δὲ μή γε (ei dè mḗ ge) Hebrew: אוֹ שֶׁ (o she), וָלֹא (való), אַחֶרֶת (aẖéret) Hindi: वरना (hi) (varnā) Hungarian: vagy pedig, máskülönben (hu), különben (hu), ellenkező esetben Icelandic: annars (is), ella (is) Ingrian: muites, too Italian: altrimenti (it), sennò (it) Japanese: そうでなければ (sō de wa nakereba), 或いは (ja) (あるいは, arui wa), もしくは (ja) (moshiku wa), さもないと (samonai to) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: دەنا (dena) Latin: aliōquī Lithuanian: arba (lt), nes kitaip Marathi: नाहीतर (mr) (nāhītar), अन्यथा (anyathā) Mari: Eastern Mari: ато (ato) Norwegian: ellers (no), hvis ikke Persian: وگرنه (fa) (vagarna) Polish: bo inaczej, bo (pl), inaczej (pl) Portuguese: senão (pt), caso contrário Romanian: că (ro) (colloquial), că de nu, (sau) altfel Russian: ина́че (ru) (ináče), и́наче (ru) (ínače), а то (ru) (a to), а не то́ (ru) (a ne tó) (also a threat), в проти́вном слу́чае (ru) (v protívnom slúčaje) Spanish: de lo contrario, si no, otramente (old-fashioned) Swedish: annars (sv), annars så Tibetan: དེ་མིན (de min), ཡང་ན (yang na) Urdu: ورنہ (ur) (varnā), وگرنہ (vagarnā)

Phrase

or else

1. (idiomatic) Implies an unspecified threat if a preceding command is not fulfilled.

   Clean up your room, or else!

   "You’d better not" "Or else?"

   • 2022 June 1, Ryan Mac, “Elon Musk to Workers: Spend 40 Hours in the Office, or Else”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Elon Musk to Workers: Spend 40 Hours in the Office, or Else [title]

   • 2024 March 9, Jacob Bernstein, “A Former Trump Aide Becomes a Liberal Favorite”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Joy Behar, who has called the MAGA movement a cult, poked her head into the room and demonstrated how invested she was in Ms. Farah Griffin’s success by offering some advice aimed squarely at me: “Be nice — or else.”

Translations

implies an unspecified threat

Dutch: of anders Finnish: tai muuten, muutoin (fi) French: ou ça va barder Hungarian: mert ha nem(, akkor baj lesz), (mert) különben (megnézheted magad) (and other combinations of the two phrases) Indonesian: kalau tidak Khiamniungan Naga: tǖtîkǜ nāitō Polish: bo inaczej Portuguese: senão (pt) Spanish: o (tú) verás, o (vos) ya verés, o te vas a enterar Swedish: annars (sv) Urdu: ورنہ (ur) (varnā), وگرنہ (vagarnā)

Anagrams

• Loeser, Lorees, resole, solere