News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative. Parent comment

Re:Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative by bluedino on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @08:56AM (#34065900)
> "jewed" or "retard" are not appropriate professional words

Real, professional example from the automotive world: 'the knock sensor can retard the ignition timing'

Is that still okay to say?

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative by allturtles on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @09:00AM (#34065958)
I'm assuming both you and the GP know that the 'retard' that's clearly offensive is the noun 'retard' referring to a person.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative by dsfyu404ed on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @10:30AM (#34067232)
Which is the whole point. The offense is the context, not the word itself.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative by slothtrop on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @10:46AM (#34067480)
The explicit purpose of a list like this is to suggest that no, it isn't, for any context. That is the banality of it.
[ Parent | on HN ]