This might be controversial. I work in an industry that has an imbedded phrase that dates to the era of chattel slavery. It seems anachronistic now and inappropriate. The term is master and slave, referring to a program or system that is the leader (master) and one or more that is the follower (slave). The terms can be applied in a variety of ways, but I believe it's time to retire them in lieu of terms that don't have origins in human slavery. Yes, the outrage over Political Correctness (PC) will now ensue. I know what some of you are going to say. But ask this; why does it matter? No one owns rights to these terms and they don't do anything or help anyone in any way. It's merely switching to other terms that don't bring to mind a time in which white men enslaved black people. Other terms work just as well, primary/secondary, mother/daughter, parent/children, leader/follower. I just know that it feel weird to me to be sitting in a meeting that includes black people and using the terms master/slave. Language changes all the time, with new words and phrases coming in and old ones being forgotten. With what I know of how some new words become common, it seems more meaningful that some are replaced with good intentions.
Why is it so?
~Julius Sumner Miller
~Julius Sumner Miller
