University of Washington IT speech guide: ‘See,’ ‘grandfather,’ ‘housekeeping’ among words/phrases now considered offensive

The University of Washington’s Information Technology (UW-IT) Department has released a radical new inclusive language guide that characterizes many everyday terms as “offensive” and requires that department employees, contractors, and vendors abide by the guidelines.

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Quick Facts

• The guide was released as part of an effort to “replace racist, sexist, ageist, ableist, homophobic or otherwise non-inclusive language scattered throughout materials and resources in the software and information technology fields.”
• The department also requires that all vendor documents and communications comply with the guidelines.
• Among the problematic words are “see,” “grandfather,” “minority,” and phrases like “no can do” and “preferred pronouns.”

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So-called inclusive speech guidelines are becoming commonplace, but the UW-IT guidelines may take the cake (a phrase considered offensive by the guide). Its officials are now seeking to replace offensive words commonly used in IT circles with ostensibly less offensive words.

“Words matter,” the introduction reads. “Words that reflect racial or other discriminatory bias are contrary to the values of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in UW Information Technology (UW-IT) and at the University of Washington (UW). They undermine the inclusive environment we aim to create in UW-IT and in serving a diverse University community.”

If a vendor uses a word that is listed in the guide, vendor liaisons are advised to change the word, or if changing the word could cause more confusion, they will contact the vendor and urge them to change the word.

Liaisons are to send one of two emails to the vendor, the shorter of which reads: 

“Dear [insert vendor name],

The University of Washington works to foster an inclusive and welcoming culture for everyone in our campus community, and we wish to work with suppliers who share this desire. Unfortunately, in working with your product/service we have identified language that can be considered offensive due to its racist, ableist and/or sexist origins. Specifically, the use of [fill in]. Can you let us know what efforts you are undertaking to move away from this language so as to create a more inclusive product/service?”

Terms and buzzwords used by IT specialists that are considered offensive based on “Race, Ethnicity, Nationality, Religion, Native/Indigenous Identity” include:

• Blackout dates
• Blacklist
• Whitelist
• Black hat hacker
• White hat hacker

The above terms are considered offensive because they allegedly portray “white” as morally superior and “black” as inferior. But there are many others. They include:

• Master.
• Slave.
• Brown bag.
• Grandfather — This term is considered offensive because the guide claims the term “grandfather clause” originated in the South as a way to defy the 15th Amendment and stop blacks from voting.
• Cakewalk — This term is said to be offensive because it was a dance performed by enslaved people and the winner would receive a cake.
• Lower the bar — The guide claims this term refers to lowering standards to accommodate people from different racial, ethnic, and gender groups.
• Minority — This term is said to be offensive because it implies that a group is “less than.”
• Mob programming — The guide claims the word “mob” has a racial component (although including this word as something ‘”racist” would say quite a bit about the IT department’s worldview as this would be news to those reporting on the violent actions of white European soccer hooligans or naturalists describing a group of kangaroos).
• Mantra.
• Ninja/guru.
• No can do — The guide states that this phrase mocks Chinese Pidgin English.
• Peanut gallery — According to the guide, the term “peanut gallery originally referred to the balconies of segregated theaters,” and peanuts were introduced to America during the slave trade.
• Spirit animal.
• Red Team, White Team, Yellow Team, Red Atomic Team.

Terms considered offensive to those with disabilities include:

• Blind spot.
• Crazy or insane.
• Dumb.
• Dummy value.
• Deaf to something; fell on deaf ears.
• Lame.
• Normal, healthy.
• Sanity check.
• See — This word is offensive because some who can’t see could find it offensive.

Terms considered offensive due to sex or gender identity:

• Any gendered pronoun — Employees are told to use they/them/theirs even in a singular form.
• Freshman, freshmen.
• Housekeeping — This term can “feel gendered” and “carries fraught history and connotation of women’s traditional domestic role as housekeepers.”
• Man (as a verb).
• Man-in-the-middle.
• Man hours.
• Preferred pronouns — This is allegedly offensive because it implies that gender identity is a preference.
• Upperclassman, upperclassmen.
• Guys.
• Ladies/gals.
• Mankind.
• Sexual preference, lifestyle.
• Gay, as a generic term.
• Virgin.

This was as lengthy though not exhaustive list of some of the most absurd words and phrases targeted in the “inclusive speech guide.” Unfortunately, there isn’t time to deeply discuss these and why the call to ban them from the department’s lexicon is so ludicrous and disturbing.

As Christians we should, of course, show love and grace and refrain from being rude to people, but the correct response to these speech guidelines is to completely ignore them and continue to speak as a normal human being.

The absurdity should be noted because while some truly do not want to hurt someone’s feelings, others are using speech codes to manipulate language and change the country. We cannot live as slaves to others’ insecurities or give in to those (like the UW-IT staff) who use words as a weapon to either shallowly signal their virtue or to have power over others.

Offense at such terms is the sign of a society with too much time on its hands, overly thin skins, and a self-centered need to control those in their reach. As a result, no one should live life desperately trying not to offend the woke — you will run afoul of them no matter what you do.

So simply be a kind person and show love and compassion in everything you say and do. If a member of the language police is offended by truthful words such as male and female pronouns or “normal” everyday words like “healthy,” “crazy,” and “guru,” that is their problem.

Hopefully, one day the men and women at UW-IT will “see” that while sticks and stones thrown by “mobs” can break your bones, words can only offend you if you let them.