James Nick Sears wrote: >> I'm surprised by the piclist's response (Lawrence Lile's >> excepted) to this. >> > >Surprised by the fact that perople are confused/in disbelief/outraged that >an entire industry is being accused of discrimination for its proper use of >the english language? From Webster's: > >Main Entry: 1mas7ter >Pronunciation: 'mas-t&r >Function: noun >Etymology: Middle English, from Old English magister & Old French maistre, >both from Latin magister; akin to Latin magnus large -- more at MUCH >Date: before 12th century >1 a (1) : a male teacher (2) : a person holding an academic degree higher >than a bachelor's but lower than a doctor's b often capitalized : a revered >religious leader c : a worker or artisan qualified to teach apprentices d >(1) : an artist, performer, or player of consummate skill (2) : a great >figure of the past (as in science or art) whose work serves as a model or >ideal >2 a : one having authority over another : RULER, GOVERNOR b : one that >conquers or masters : VICTOR, SUPERIOR the champion found his master> c : a person licensed to command a merchant >ship d (1) : one having control (2) : an owner especially of a slave or >animal e : the employer especially of a servant f (1) dialect : HUSBAND (2) >: the male head of a household >3 a (1) archaic : MR. (2) : a youth or boy too young to be called mister -- >used as a title b : the eldest son of a Scottish viscount or baron >4 a : a presiding officer in an institution or society (as a college) b : >any of several officers of court appointed to assist (as by hearing and >reporting) a judge >5 a : a master mechanism or device b : an original from which copies can be >made; especially : a master phonograph record or magnetic tape >- mas7ter7ship /-"ship/ noun > > >Main Entry: 1slave >Pronunciation: 'slAv >Function: noun >Etymology: Middle English sclave, from Old French or Medieval Latin; Old >French esclave, from Medieval Latin sclavus, from Sclavus Slavic; from the >frequent enslavement of Slavs in central Europe >Date: 14th century >1 : a person held in servitude as the chattel of another >2 : one that is completely subservient to a dominating influence >3 : a device (as the printer of a computer) that is directly responsive to >another >4 : DRUDGE, TOILER >- slave adjective > > >Call it what you will, but the fact of the matter is that one device finds >itself "directly responsive" to the orders of another. Note that while >electronic devices are mentioned, the only group of people mentioned is the >one associated with the origin of the word, the Slavs. This isn't just a >trade name like SMBus or DirectX - this has become part of the >widely-accepted definition of the word. Any word or words that truly >describe this relationship will be but synonyms for master and slave. In my >eyes a word can only be discriminatory or offensive for the idea it >represents, so do we have to reengineer all systems such that every device >has an equal right to life, liberty, and pursuit of bus ownership? I don't >see another way to find a way to accurately relabel things in such a way >that is completely unoffensive. > >> If your spouse told you, "There's this thing you do that bothers >> me; I'd be happier if you stopped," I don't think many of you >> would respond with, "Your feelings are stupid; I'm going to keep >> doing it because you really shouldn't be bothered by it." >> > >If it was something as inane as this then you'd better believe I would. I >would put it more sensitively than that of course, but it is important to >call bs when you smell poo. People don't love doormats. They use them. > >> Or, hmm... Engineers ARE stereotypically unskilled at social >> interaction; maybe the stereotype is accurate and most of you >> WOULD say that to your husband or wife. >> > >Engineers are also stereotypically spineless weenies. Anyone who jumps >simply because someone else says "jump" is preciselly that. > >> In any case, telling your CUSTOMERS that you're going to ignore >> their feelings because they're illogical/stupid/liberal/PC/etc is >> just bad business. If you can make a customer happier by doing >> something as simple as changing two words, why wouldn't you? It >> doesn't matter AT ALL whether you think the request is logical >> or necessary. >> > >True, but we aren't responding to our customers. We are responding to our >colleagues. Besides, there is a point where beyond which, if a customer is >consistently irrational in such a way that causes needless cost and >confusion, it may be more profitable to find other, more rational customers. >I'm not really specifically talking about changing a few letters on >silkscreen here but instead, the general jump when you hear jump attitude. >Maybe you do change the words, especially for a large account, but I'd be >surprised and frightened if people DIDN'T respond this way. I have never >owned and will never own a slave. I am not a discriminatory person, >racially or otherwise. As such I do not like the idea of being accused of >being one for something as innocuous as this. I also do not like taxpayers' >money and peoples' time and efforts being misdirected toward righting (and >thereby acknowledging and justifying) nonexistent wrongs. I also believe >that there is a large core of intelligent people with money to spend that >feel the same way. To these people, caving to a faddish request such as >this is a sign of incompetence, lack of confidence, and ultimately weakness, >none of which are attractive qualities when considering placing one's trust >in another. What if interest in this issue passes quickly (as I presume it >will) and your company is one of only a few in the industry that have >disowned the standard (as I presume it would be). Won't this create >unnecessary confusion and make your product less attractive to potential >customers? > >> Besides, Master/Slave can usually be replaced without loss of >> meaning, and in fact, the replacement can often be MORE >> meaningful. PC hard disk drives, for instance, are more >> accurately described as Primary/Secondary than Master/Slave, >> right? >> > >Then we have Primary Primary, Primary Secondary, Secondary Primary, and >Secondary Secondary. Rather confusing and might cause a few problems when >people connect HDs, no? > >I think that today in America, just like in the rest of the world, there are >much more important issues that deserve governments' and employees' time. >Let us not forget on this eve, the eve of the day of thanks giving, Michael, >Kobe, and Paris. > >Nick > >> -Andy >> >>=== Andrew Warren -- aiw@cypress.com >>=== Principal Design Engineer >>=== Cypress Semiconductor Corporation >>=== >>=== Opinions expressed above do not >>=== necessarily represent those of >>=== Cypress Semiconductor Corporation >> > >-- >http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! >email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body > Nice work, but it won't do any good. Remember the Washington D.C. staffer who got canned for using "niggardly "; In a proper context too, as I recall. Jim -- http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? 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