> the implied connotation: blacklist and whitelist -> black is bad and white is good Well, no. And you illustrate it so well: > reasonable alternatives: allow

> the implied connotation: blacklist and whitelist -> black is bad and white is good Well, no. And you illustrate it so well: > reasonable alternatives: allowlist and blocklist If both statements are true, then "allow" is good and "block" is bad. See, if there's any implication of value then it needs to apply to whatever words you choose to use. In reality, none of those can be qualified as good or bad. They're tools. As such, when put to good use, they will be good; when misused they might be bad. This is true for whatever (black|white|allow|block)list is used.