using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; public class Test { public static void Main() { var strings = new[]{ "hi", "hey", "hi", "hi" }; string first = strings.FirstOrDefault(s => s != "N/A"); bool allEqual = first == null || strings.All(s => s == "N/A" || s == first); Console.Write("are all strings equal? " + allEqual); } }