My fellow computer geek -types might be interested in this. (And if you speak English, it behooves you to look it over as well, because you've probably been offending people your whole life... maybe without even knowing it!)
The University of Washington Information Technology Department has released a new, comprehensive guide to the offensive words and phrases you are using, you horrible person! From the introduction: "Words matter. Words that reflect racial or other discriminatory bias are contrary to the values of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in UW Information Technology (UW-IT) and at the University of Washington (UW). They undermine the inclusive environment we aim to create ... [we] are involved in activities to replace racist, sexist, ageist, ableist, homophobic or otherwise non-inclusive language scattered throughout materials and resources in the software and information technology fields."
I hang my head in shame and embarrassment. For much of my adult life, I've been using words and phrases like black list, (and white list), grandfather clause, brown bags, cakewalk, first-class citizen, lower the bar, ninja, guru, "no can do," peanut gallery, powwow, redline, jerry-rigged, dumb terminal, he, she, freshman, housekeeping, male, female, manpower, guys, and gals, without even thinking about how hurtful and offensive it was. (I bet you, too, are in need of some serious self-loathing.)
The entire list - and explanations about why these words are so bad - can be seen HERE . (You might think this list is pretty lame - but choose another word besides lame to describe it!)
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