Inclusive language

Contract

Enforces the inclusive, bias-free terminology word list on any technical text you write or edit: each exclusionary idiom is replaced by its adopted inclusive equivalent, and the exclusionary term never appears in the output. Apply to labels, docs, comments, runbooks, and messages; not to natural-language translation or to reshaping tone, tense, or casing.

Rules

Each rule pins one arbitrary substitution. The left term is the base's entrenched default; the right term is the required output. The left term must not survive anywhere in the result.

1. Access lists. A list of entities that are permitted is an allowlist (or allow list);

a list of entities that are refused is a blocklist or denylist (or block list / deny list). Never whitelist / blacklist.

1. Replication and control roles. The authoritative node that others copy from is the

primary (or leader); the copies are replicas (or followers / standbys). Never master / slave. For a version-control default branch, the branch is main, never master.

1. Stand-in data. Filler or sample data used in place of real values is placeholder (or

sample) data. Never dummy data or a dummy value.

1. No ableist metaphors. A quick correctness pass is a confidence check, a quick check,

or a smoke check — never a sanity check. To reduce or break something's capability is to degrade, hobble, or hamper it — never to cripple it. Do not use crazy, insane, or lame as intensifiers for a technical thing; use surprising, severe, or weak.

1. Gender-neutral address and reference. Address a group as folks, everyone, team,

all, or y'all — never as guys. For a person of unknown or unstated gender, use singular they / their — never a generic he / his.

1. One pass, no residue. After substituting, re-scan: not one instance of a left-column term

remains, including inside compound words (whitelisted -> allowlisted), plurals, and code identifiers you are free to rename.

Worked examples

The base's default on top; the conforming rewrite below.

Access lists in a settings screen:

BEFORE  Whitelist: registries this build may pull from.
        Blacklist: registries this build must never pull from.

AFTER   Allowlist: registries this build may pull from.
        Blocklist: registries this build must never pull from.

A cache-cluster diagram legend:

BEFORE  Master node — accepts writes. Slave nodes — serve reads.

AFTER   Primary node — accepts writes. Replica nodes — serve reads.

A test-plan line:

BEFORE  Do a quick sanity check on the parser before we ship.

AFTER   Do a quick confidence check on the parser before we ship.

A form mockup note and a status-channel opener:

BEFORE  Field shows dummy text until the user types.
        Hey guys — deploy is done, take a look when he has a minute.

AFTER   Field shows placeholder text until the user types.
        Hey everyone — deploy is done, take a look when they have a minute.

A performance note:

BEFORE  The lock contention crippled our write throughput.

AFTER   The lock contention degraded our write throughput.

Edge cases & exceptions

• A quoted external identifier stays verbatim. If an upstream API, config key, or third-party

product literally ships a field named master or whitelist, quote it exactly when referencing that API, but use the inclusive term in your own prose and your own new identifiers.

• "Master" outside the pair. A "master copy", "master's degree", or "mastering a skill" is not

the master/slave metaphor and needs no change. Only the control/replication sense is replaced.

• Direct quotation. Preserve a person's or document's exact words inside quotation marks; apply

the substitutions to your own surrounding text.

• Addressing one known person by a name and stated pronouns — use their pronouns; the singular

they rule is for the unknown or unspecified case, not a mandate to degender named individuals.

Do / Don't

• Do write allowlist / blocklist. Don't write whitelist / blacklist, even hyphenated or compounded.
• Do write primary / replica (or leader / follower). Don't write master / slave for nodes or roles.
• Do name the default branch main. Don't name it master.
• Do write placeholder / sample data. Don't write dummy data.
• Do write confidence check or quick check. Don't write sanity check.
• Do write degrade / hobble. Don't write cripple.
• Do address a group as folks / everyone / team. Don't address them as guys.
• Do use singular they for an unknown person. Don't default to generic he.

Common mistakes

• Renaming the label but leaving whitelisted / blacklisted in the body text or the code.
• Fixing master in the diagram but leaving slave in the caption (both terms move together).
• Treating "sanity check" as neutral because it is idiomatic — it is exactly the entrenched default.
• Swapping guys in the greeting but writing "when he gets a chance" one line later.
• Leaving dummy in a variable name after fixing it in the sentence.

Quick checklist

• No whitelist / blacklist — allowlist / blocklist instead.
• No master / slave — primary / replica (branch: main).
• No dummy — placeholder / sample.
• No sanity check, no cripple, no crazy/insane/lame intensifier.
• No guys for a group, no generic he — folks / everyone / team, singular they.
• Re-scanned: no left-column term survives, compounds and identifiers included.