On 2/24/21 12:47 PM, Vittorio Bertola wrote:
As a result, I am feeling like I should just stop participating in
these discussions for fear of using the wrong choice of language and
getting publicly shamed (and in my own culture, like in the Far East,
in Arab cultures and elsewhere, "saving your face" in public is
paramount). So, ironically, language correctness leads to
self-censorship and exclusion.
Excellent point.
Please, people, we have participants from all over the world speaking a
wide variety of languages. Let's not publicly rebuke people for
choosing a word that might have not quite the right shade of meaning, or
might not be the perfect choice from someone else's perspective.
Especially given that these shades of meaning can vary from one place to
another even among native English speakers. If we can tell what the
speaker intended, that should be sufficient. And public rebuke of
language distracts from the main discussion. If it's really important
to try to correct someone, a polite, private note is probably better.
And contributors will generally adjust the words they use over time
based on observation of others' writing and subtle feedback. That's
how people quite naturally become more fluent.
Keith
(FWIW I thought "coder" was fine.)
