Inclusive terminology

Alternative terms

We aim to replace non-inclusive terms with more inclusive alternatives. Click "why" to unfurl an explanation.

(Note: many explanations are particular to American English, due to [sometimes obscure] American history. The terms may be inoffensive in other variants of global English.)

• Use blocklist and allowlist instead of blacklist and whitelist.
  Why?

Associating "black" with bad or forbidden and "white" with good or allowed reinforces racial bias in language, even when used in a technical context.

• Avoid using master and slave.
  • For git, use main.
  • For databases, use write database and read replica.
  • For other scenarios, use terms such as parent and child, leader and follower, or primary and secondary. Be mindful of scenarios where other commands will create language like, sending kill signals to children.
    Why?

These terms reference the institution of slavery and can be painful for people whose ancestors were enslaved. There are always more precise technical alternatives available.

• Use terms such as excused or exempted in place of grandfathered.
  Why?

"Grandfather clause" originates from post-Civil War laws designed to prevent Black Americans from voting by exempting white voters whose grandfathers had the right to vote before the Civil War.

• Use negative space instead of white space.
  Why?

Using "white" to mean empty or blank reinforces the idea of whiteness as a default or neutral state.

• Use billable hours, workforce, or hours of work instead of man hours or manpower.
  Why?

"Man hours" and "manpower" treat male as the default, erasing the contributions of people of other genders.

• Use people instead of resources.
  Why?

Referring to people as "resources" dehumanizes them, reducing individuals to interchangeable assets rather than recognizing their unique contributions.

• Use reaching out to people instead of poaching.
  Why?

"Poaching" implies that people are property that can be stolen, rather than individuals making their own career choices.

• Use test a product with unfamiliar visitors instead of the mom test.
  Why?

"The mom test" relies on stereotypes about mothers and women being less technically capable.

• Use hecklers, detractors, or naysayers instead of peanut gallery.
  Why?

"Peanut gallery" originates from the segregated sections of theaters (typically the cheapest balcony seats) where Black people were forced to sit. The term was used to mock their participation and opinions.

• Use marginalized people, underrepresented people, or people of marginalized identities instead of minorities.
  Why?

"Minorities" can feel diminishing and defines people by their numerical status rather than acknowledging the systemic barriers they face.

• Use sad, upsetting, or disappointing instead of depressed when describing something non-clinical.
  Why?

Using "depressed" casually trivializes clinical depression and the experiences of people living with mental health conditions.

• Use older adult, older person, or person over (years old/age) instead of seniors, elderly, old man/woman/person.
  Why?

Terms like "elderly" and "old" can be patronizing and reduce people to their age. Person-first language respects their full identity.

• Use machine made, synthetic, or anthropogenic instead of man made.
  Why?

"Man made" treats male as the default for all of humanity, erasing non-male contributions to human achievement.

• Use built-in support instead of first-class citizen.
  Why?

"First-class citizen" implies a hierarchy of citizenship, echoing historical and ongoing systems where certain groups of people are denied full rights and recognition.

• Use unsustainable pace, unrealistic expectations, or doomed effort instead of death march.
  Why?

"Death march" trivializes actual death marches in which thousands of people died.

• Use review, support, or another perspective instead of another pair of eyes or sanity check.
  Why?

"Sanity check" stigmatizes mental health conditions by equating "sanity" with correctness and "insanity" with being wrong.

• Use being a good addition to the team instead of being a good fit.
  Why?

"Culture fit" is often used to mask bias in hiring. It can lead to excluding people who don't match the dominant group's background or communication style, rather than evaluating their actual skills and contributions.

• Use silly goose instead of idiot.
  Why?

"Idiot" was historically used as a medical classification to dehumanize people with intellectual disabilities. It carries a legacy of institutionalization and mistreatment.

• Use ignorant or uninformed instead of dumb or stupid.
  Why?

"Dumb" originally meant unable to speak and has been used to demean people with speech-related disabilities. Both terms contribute to ableist stigma.

• Use frozen, stuck, halted, or stopped, instead of crippled or crippling.
  Why?

"Crippled" is a term historically used to dehumanize people with physical disabilities. Using it as a metaphor trivializes their experiences.

• Use boring, uninteresting, monotonous, or corny instead of lame.
  Why?

"Lame" originally referred to people who could not walk. Using it to mean "uncool" trivializes physical disability.

• Use wild, confusing, reckless, or unpredictable instead of crazy, insane, or nuts.
  Why?

These terms stigmatize mental health conditions by using them as negative descriptors. This can discourage people from seeking help and reinforces harmful stereotypes about mental illness.

• Use people, everyone, or folks instead of guys, dudes, or bros.
  Why?

While often intended as gender-neutral, these terms default to male language and can make people of other genders feel excluded or invisible.

DEI glossary

In order to facilitate a shared context of DEI, below is a list of terms and their explanations, sourced from our workshops with NOVA Collective and individual contributions.

• Allyship: Committing to ongoing learning and taking courageous action to create a more equitable and inclusive workplace. It’s important to understand allyship as being defined by the actions you take rather than as a description of who you are.
• Anti-Racism: The practice of actively identifying and opposing racism. The goal of anti-racism is to actively change policies, behaviors, and beliefs that prepetuate racist ideas and actions.
• Diversity: The presence of difference within a group in a given setting, including but not limited to sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, body size, and socioeconomic status.
• EQ/Emotional Intelligence: The capability to identify and discern different emotions in oneself and others and use that information to guide thinking and behavior.
• Equality: Providing the same resources to each individual, regardless of individual needs. Equality seldom results in equity because people don't start with the same experiences, position, or access to opportunities.
• Equity: The intentional rebalancing of power dynamics to result in fair treatment of all employees regarding accessibility of information, opportunities and resources so individuals can reach their potential.
• Racial Inequity: Pre-judgment, bias, stereotypes or generalizations about an individual or group based on race.
• Inclusion: Inclusive behaviors include the actions that make others feel valued, respected, seen and heard. Working together to create environments, activities, programs, and policies in which any individual or group can be and feel welcomed, respected, supported, and valued to fully participate and succeed.
• Intersectionality: Understanding that various social identities, such as race, gender, class, sexual orientation, and ability, intersect and overlap, resulting in unique experiences of discrimination and privilege for individuals.
• Belonging: The degree to which individuals experience treatment from the group that satisfies their need for feeling that they are a part of the group while maintaining their uniqueness. This is a feeling that is an outcome of inclusive behaviors.
• Privilege: Advantages, rewards, and benefits given to a person having one or more dominant identities in society, without that person having to ask or fight for them.
• Unconscious Bias: Learned stereotypes operating outside our conscious awareness that everyone forms without realizing it. They are automatic, deeply ingrained, and able to influence our behavior towards others. Often these biases do not align with one's conscious values.