Replace 'Optional' with 'Zero or one times'

[lemzwerg]

The latter is more precise than the former because it tells exactly how often something can occur, while the quantity of the former can only be deduced by exclusion, i.e., you have to see the other variants ('one or more times', 'zero or more times') to find out that only the meaning 'zero or one times' remains.

[mscuthbert]

Disagree. Zero times or once is not idiomatic English. Optional is.

Thanks!

[lemzwerg]

So you say that 'optional' always means 'exactly once or zero times'? I can't believe that, since this word has nothing to do with the quantity!

BTW, my wife agrees with me, and she is a native English speaker 🙂 – 'optional' doesn't tell you how often you can use something. Just imagine that you can fill a bag with green and/or red balls. If you say 'red balls are mandatory and green balls are optional', the only thing you know about the number of green balls is that having zero balls is valid.

I also think that having idiomatic English phrases is preferable, however, they should be avoided if there are ambiguities, and the case at hand is exactly such a situation.