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If something were to be true, then foo.

Or if this other thing were to be true, then bar.

If it’s something else, then baz.

The modern universal keywords if, else, for and while are good because they are fairly short and thus quick to type.

Article states else is archiac English but later says someone called it ignorantly incorrect English and suggested using "or".

Ive always assumed it was effectively "otherwise" but shortened to "or else" -> "else".

Given the alternative to use "or" as the first pushback I feel that acts as confirmation. I prefer else because "or" has implications in boolean and bitwise logic that else doesn't.

> I can't use "else" as a conjunction in normal speech, only in computer programs.

sure you can. who's going to stop you?

it was probably a rote translation of the German word ‘sonst’

No. English has used else to mean "otherwise" since before computers came along. Wiktionary offers this quote from Call of the Wild (1903):

"He had never seen dogs fight as these wolfish creatures fought, and his first experience taught him an unforgetable lesson. It is true, it was a vicarious experience, else he would not have lived to profit by it."

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/else#Conjunction

There's also "or else", as made famous in crime dramas: "Meet me by the docks at midnight. Bring the money. Come alone. No cops... or else!" But in other usage it can of course be followed by something. "He had to get to work on time, or else he might be fired."

> I can't use "else" as a conjunction in normal speech, only in computer programs.

Not true. Here's an example from 1876 in which "else" is used as a conjunction.

> My brother is poor, and I want to look as much like him as I can, else he may feel distant from me.

-- George Eliot ( https://www.victorianlondon.org/etexts/eliot/deronda-0047.sh... )

If ... then ... otherwise ...

Fixed!

The English language origin is from programming if/then/else