Doing Better With Technical Terms
As the engineering profession becomes more inclusive, we need replacements for terms that may conjure up prejudice or bias. Here are some suggestions for improvements:
| Instead of… | Use… |
|---|---|
| whitelist/blacklist | allow-list/deny-list yes-list/no-list |
| master/slave | primary/secondary main/backup (backup is not used until main fails) director/performer (director tells performers what to do) leader/follower (leader performs action, followers mimic behavior) overview/detail (overview provides navigation, detail shows…details) |
| male connector | plug, tab, prong, pin |
| female connector | port, socket, receptacle1, slot |
| sanity test | robustness test, basic operations test (specify what you’re testing) |
| blackout | power outage, power failure |
| brownout | partial power outage, voltage dropout |
What other terms can you think of?
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Avoid using the term “jack” to mean “receptacle”, because the term may cause confusion between the US and UK. ↩