This mini glossary* is an illustration of our inclusive language framework in action. It is not an exhaustive list of terms that might be harmful. It also does not include slurs. Rather, this is a subset of terms crowdsourced from stakeholders during our framework development, and demonstrates examples of applying the framework. Before using this resource, we highly encourage you to explore the framework. We hope the framework and these examples help you as you come across terms that might be harmful.

*This work was supported by Google. EGAL also formed and collaborated with a working group of academic and community leaders with representation across various identities and expertise. While the work has broad applicability, this resource includes terms crowdsourced from an audience in the US with people in the US as the target audience.

This tool outlines terms that may be harmful, explores why and in which contexts they may be harmful, and highlights more inclusive alternatives and usage recommendations. We use our inclusive language framework to consider the impact of each term in various contexts, assess when the terms may be harmful, and explore more inclusive alternatives, and each term is accompanied by links to resources supporting our reasoning and recommendations. The terms are organized alphabetically, and you can look up specific terms using the search bar.

More inclusive alternative terms are selected on the basis of four guiding principles, which outline that inclusive language:

• Conveys respect to all people
• Communicates a message effectively through precise language
• Acknowledges diversity
• Involves continual improvement

We encourage you to approach this tool with a mindset of:

• Being open to learning and unlearning;
• Recognizing that context matters and language changes; and
• Being willing to change behaviors and strive to do better.

Remember: this is not an exhaustive list; inclusive language is not about memorizing a fixed list of “good” and “bad” words. Instead, we recommend leveraging this tool as a reference point and learning opportunity. Language changes and evolves, so we urge you to continue to ask yourself how you can communicate in ways that are compassionate and effective, and reference our inclusive language framework to continue on your journey of being an Equity Fluent Leader.