After reading a GitHub discussion on the matter (https://github.com/gvanrossum/patma/issues/93), '|' now makes sense to me instead of 'or': - The use of the '|' character in Python seems to be going towards a union-like operator (dict merging, PEP 604), which is definitely appropriate here. - The clarity of '|' and 'or' can go either way subjectivity, but a use-case I hadn't considered in my previous comment was nested pattern matching, e.g. case (1 | 2 | 3, x) | (4 | 5 | 6, x): case (1 or 2 or 3, x) or (4 or 5 or 6, x): To me, '|' seems at least as clear as 'or' in this case, since it can be read faster and doesn't chew up space. Spaces before and after '|' definitely help. - As Tim noted, 'or' would exist as a solitary logical function in the current setup. Although, a different GitHub discussion could possibly ressurect 'and' (https://github.com/gvanrossum/patma/issues/97).