From cd0e52900334b823535e08d5b5f066c814eec25d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Paolo Bonzini Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2022 17:06:32 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 1/4] Emphasize using verbs or participles to replace whitelist/blacklist Languages other than English may not allow turning a noun into a verb with the same agility that English has. Some of them might not form compound words easily and resort to English loan words. In such a scenario, it would not be impossible for the translator to revert "allowlist" into a loan word based on "blacklist", because that's a more commonly known word to his audience of non-English speakers. This would make the effort to use inclusive language vain. Therefore, emphasize more the possibility to use not just the "-ed" form of verbs, but also the verbs themselves without the "list" suffix. Their past participles easily work as adjectives, and they are easily translated. --- content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md | 4 +++- 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md b/content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md index 6e33596..6bdbdb5 100644 --- a/content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md +++ b/content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md @@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ unsuitable_replacements: rationale: | The underlying assumption of the whitelist/blacklist metaphor is that white = good and black = bad. Because colors in and of themselves have no predetermined meaning, any meaning we assign to them is cultural: for example, the color red in many Southeast Asian countries is lucky, and is often associated with events like marriages, whereas the color white carries the same connotations in many European countries. In the case of whitelist/blacklist, the terms originate in the publishing industry – one dominated by the USA and England, two countries which participated in slavery and which grapple with their racist legacies to this day. - From a technical communication perspective, using whitelist/blacklist as a naming convention applies metaphor (and, in turn, unintended meaning) when it isn’t needed. More directly descriptive words like allowlist/denylist enhances understanding. Allowlist/denylist, or simply using allowed/denied as an entity prefix has the added benefit of being easily translatable to other human languages. + From a technical communication perspective, using whitelist/blacklist as a naming convention applies metaphor (and, in turn, unintended meaning) when it isn’t needed. A suitable verb or adjective enhances understanding by replacing the metaphor with a direct description. + + In English, "whitelist" and "blacklist" can be used as either verbs or nouns. As a verb, commonly used words such as "allow" or "deny" can be used directly. As a noun, words such as "allowlist" and "denylist" are in use and are more descriptive than whitelist/blacklist, but they may be difficult to translate to other human languages. Consider prefixed forms instead, such as "allowedRecipients" as a replacement for "recipientWhitelist"; in descriptive text (as opposed to code) you may want to prepend "list of", as in "list of allowed recipients". status: | From 77eb019759f7a90c59c03c75935c9d4efb6ad03e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Paolo Bonzini Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2022 17:15:49 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 2/4] Add more examples of verbs that can be used instead of whitelist/blacklist --- content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md | 4 ++-- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md b/content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md index 6bdbdb5..01aba09 100644 --- a/content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md +++ b/content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md @@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ definition: "Lists which permit or deny a set of nouns, or select enabled featur use_context: "N/A" recommendation: "Adopt immediately" recommended_replacements: + - allowedNouns/deniedNouns (or other verbs) - allowlist/denylist - - allowedNouns/deniedNouns unsuitable_replacements: - N/A rationale: | @@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ rationale: | From a technical communication perspective, using whitelist/blacklist as a naming convention applies metaphor (and, in turn, unintended meaning) when it isn’t needed. A suitable verb or adjective enhances understanding by replacing the metaphor with a direct description. - In English, "whitelist" and "blacklist" can be used as either verbs or nouns. As a verb, commonly used words such as "allow" or "deny" can be used directly. As a noun, words such as "allowlist" and "denylist" are in use and are more descriptive than whitelist/blacklist, but they may be difficult to translate to other human languages. Consider prefixed forms instead, such as "allowedRecipients" as a replacement for "recipientWhitelist"; in descriptive text (as opposed to code) you may want to prepend "list of", as in "list of allowed recipients". + In English, "whitelist" and "blacklist" can be used as either verbs or nouns. As a verb, commonly used words such as "allow" or "deny" can be used directly. Depending on the context, other verbs such as "skip", "ignore", "block", "waive", "disable" can be used instead. As a noun, words such as "allowlist" and "denylist" are in use and are more descriptive than whitelist/blacklist, but they may be difficult to translate to other human languages. Consider prefixed forms instead, such as "allowedRecipients" as a replacement for "recipientWhitelist"; in descriptive text (as opposed to code) you may want to prepend "list of", as in "list of allowed recipients". status: | From 2c9027bbe21346a32bcda31152902cb1574d1b67 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Paolo Bonzini Date: Thu, 27 May 2021 12:31:25 -0400 Subject: [PATCH 3/4] Remove mention of origin of whitelist/blacklist in the publishing industry This origin is not substantiated by sources such as the Oxford English Dictionary. The more likely origin seem to be in politics, where it was applied to people, with the term's surge in popularity occurring during World War I. At the time, "blacklist" was used for the list of firms denied access to various Entente infrastructure in the United Kingdom. During and after World War II, the term started being used to describe various kinds of restrictions, generally not limited to the publishing industry. See also: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=blacklist&year_start=1800&year_end=2000 I tried keeping the reference to slavery, but I couldn't fit it in the rest of the text which talked about the different metaphors behind colors in various cultures. --- content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md b/content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md index 01aba09..af22478 100644 --- a/content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md +++ b/content/word-lists/tier-1/whitelist.md @@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ recommended_replacements: unsuitable_replacements: - N/A rationale: | - The underlying assumption of the whitelist/blacklist metaphor is that white = good and black = bad. Because colors in and of themselves have no predetermined meaning, any meaning we assign to them is cultural: for example, the color red in many Southeast Asian countries is lucky, and is often associated with events like marriages, whereas the color white carries the same connotations in many European countries. In the case of whitelist/blacklist, the terms originate in the publishing industry – one dominated by the USA and England, two countries which participated in slavery and which grapple with their racist legacies to this day. + The underlying assumption of the whitelist/blacklist metaphor is that white = good and black = bad. Because colors in and of themselves have no predetermined meaning, any meaning we assign to them is cultural: for example, the color red in many Southeast Asian countries is lucky, and is often associated with events like marriages, whereas the color white carries the same connotations in many European countries. From a technical communication perspective, using whitelist/blacklist as a naming convention applies metaphor (and, in turn, unintended meaning) when it isn’t needed. A suitable verb or adjective enhances understanding by replacing the metaphor with a direct description. From 0e2c3760d2dc9e093d8494404b5698433e556294 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Paolo Bonzini Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2022 17:12:12 +0200 Subject: [PATCH 4/4] faqs: adjust sample replacement of "whitelist" --- content/faqs.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/content/faqs.md b/content/faqs.md index 785c347..4b747db 100644 --- a/content/faqs.md +++ b/content/faqs.md @@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Newspeak involved multiple changes but the most essential were: Everything in the conscious language initiative is *the exact opposite* of that. -For example, "Denylist" is both more precise and more accurate than "blacklist"; +For example, "waived failures" is both more precise and more accurate than "whitelist"; "Primary" is both more precise and more accurate than "master" in projects that have made the switch.