4 ms·

If you work in big(or medium) tech you’ve probably been given a list of “say this not that”. Say folks rather than guys. Say blocklist instead of blacklist. Mai

If you work in big(or medium) tech you’ve probably been given a list of “say this not that”. Say folks rather than guys. Say blocklist instead of blacklist. Main branch, not master branch. Supposedly it’s to be more inclusive, but I’ve yet to meet an actual minority that feels excluded or offended by such trivialities. They can be rather exasperating too, I’ve been told to say “the candidate” rather than “he” or “she” in post interview round tables to avoid someone accidentally using pronouns the candidate doesn’t prefer.

eesmith 4y ago
At https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23763739 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23763739 I collected examples posted to HN, like one from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4617174 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4617174 : > A coworker and I were de-duping records in a database. One of us said while pairing on the script "well, every slave needs a master." > An african american woman in the office turned to us and said "maybe it's the master who needs the slave?" > She wasn't really offend or anything and she said it with a sincere smile. She was just calling out our idiotic computer lingo for what it was. So, neither excluded nor offended. But it was still in bad taste.
- TexanFeller 4y ago
  Thanks for sharing that. I might adjust terminology myself after that even though it didn’t actually harm or offend them.
- poopnugget 4y ago
sureglymop 4y ago
Why is it so hard for some people to change their usage of some words? For me it seems pretty simple and technically speaking the alternative/new words are still understandable. It's not like in this industry it's uncommon to have to learn and adjust or dismiss prior solutions when new better ones arise. Big deal over mostly nothing imo.
- yetin 4y ago
  If it's mostly nothing, then there can't really be a problem in people not bothering to change their word usage either, right?

eesmith 4y ago

At https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23763739 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23763739 I collected examples posted to HN, like one from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4617174 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4617174 : > A coworker and I were de-duping records in a database. One of us said while pairing on the script "well, every slave needs a master." > An african american woman in the office turned to us and said "maybe it's the master who needs the slave?" > She wasn't really offend or anything and she said it with a sincere smile. She was just calling out our idiotic computer lingo for what it was. So, neither excluded nor offended. But it was still in bad taste.

TexanFeller 4y ago
Thanks for sharing that. I might adjust terminology myself after that even though it didn’t actually harm or offend them.
poopnugget 4y ago

sureglymop 4y ago

Why is it so hard for some people to change their usage of some words? For me it seems pretty simple and technically speaking the alternative/new words are still understandable. It's not like in this industry it's uncommon to have to learn and adjust or dismiss prior solutions when new better ones arise. Big deal over mostly nothing imo.

yetin 4y ago
If it's mostly nothing, then there can't really be a problem in people not bothering to change their word usage either, right?