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Crux: "the decisive or most important point at issue," from Oxford's "Lexico" service. This is a common(ish) English word, it surprises me that it would be off

Crux: "the decisive or most important point at issue," from Oxford's "Lexico" service. This is a common(ish) English word, it surprises me that it would be offensive in contemporary usage, though I get that the Latin origin relates to Christianity (via the crucifixion story).

fortran77 6y ago
And the reason the word "crux" means a "decisive point" is because of the Romans' use of the cross as a means of torturing and killing people. The fact that you're fine with it is OK--it's a free Country--but it tells me a lot about what kind of a person you are. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=crux https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=crux > Century Dictionary ascribes it to "the cross as an instrument of torture; hence anything that puzzles or vexes in a high degree ...." Extended sense of "central point" is attested by 1888. So I guess you'd be find with calling your product "noose" or "lynching". Good luck with that.
- beders 6y ago
  Yeah, I think Iron Maiden should really change their name. How dare they? And crossword puzzles shall be called intersection puzzles from now on! But why stop there! What kind of a sinful name is Crossfit! Burn them at the cross! And let'sorganize a protest in front of the Center for Research in Open Source Software (CROSS) at UC Santa Cruz(!!!!!) too!
- 0xdeadb00f 6y ago
  Languages and words' meaning change over time. Just because Crux's root was a torture device doesn't mean it has any connotation to a torture device in modern English.
  - fortran77 6y ago
    We all renamed our "master" repositories, didn't we?