# Is it racist to use the term 'Master Bedroom' **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2022, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613 "2022-10-21T22:47:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613/381 "2022-10-28T22:37:55Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > 7 is several I had someone explain to me once that 7 is several because that’s what it says in the bible. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613/382 "2022-10-28T22:45:41Z")
Okay, that’s new to me. 😂 ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613/383 "2022-10-28T23:00:07Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Maybe it’s regional. I’m certainly not going to correct you if you tell me you have several apples, and you only have 3. Do you use “a few” for anything? I use _few_ to mean two or three in a context when I am trying to minimize “I made a few mistakes.” and _several_ to mean two or three in a context where I’m trying to maximize \*My oppponent made several mistakes.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613/384 "2022-10-28T23:03:06Z")
Yeah, I didn’t want to get off on that side discussion, but my use of those words is like yours. Same with stuff like “couple” (it’s not literally two most of the time, but it can be). There’s a range of amounts all those words can convey and they’re not fixed concepts in my head and very much context and intention dependent. “Oh, yeah, I had a couple beers at the bar.” ← that could mean pretty much any number. “I’ll get back to you in a couple of days” ← Two to four, maybe. If I wanted to be specific, I would say “two.” Same with the words you cited. These words have a lot of “fuzz” around them. There is a loose hierarchy, though. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613/385 "2022-10-29T06:35:58Z")
I’m quite strict about _a couple_ being two and only two, but _few_ and _several_ do have contextual flexibility. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613/386 "2022-10-29T09:06:33Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Huh, maybe it’s all the abuse I’ve gotten in customer facing positions that gives me the perspective that I just ignore the haters, and filter any actual useful feedback and criticism into making myself better. I’ve been in similar positions for most of my working life, but I had managers who would regularly throw me under the bus and take the side of the people complaining, so I guess I never really got to grow a thicker skin ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613/387 "2022-10-29T10:56:50Z")
It’s racist, sexist, socially divisive, dismissive of minorities, lacking in common sense, workplace inappropriate, theologically problematic, unapproved, non-certified, potentially actionable, fiscally irresponsible, technologically unsound, possibly illegal and a threat to all people everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613/388 "2022-10-30T01:52:14Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > A niggling pain is not necessarily a nagging pain (and that is assuming that “nagging” will remain a word that can be used without anyone complaining about it, that is no certainly if your preferred approach is taken) Somehow I don’t think my personally not using the word “niggardly” or “niggling” is going to change the course of the English language. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613/389 "2022-10-30T03:20:57Z")
And I’m not at all worried about a “slippery slope”, nor of running out of words. Language changes. There are lots of new words every year, and old words acquire new meanings. ---
**Author:** ![DopeSince54](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@DopeSince54](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DopeSince54)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613/390 "2022-10-30T18:13:59Z")
“master bedroom” does not actually use a definition involving human superiority and power. The same definition is used for the “master cylinder” in a brake system; the cylinder is not human, it exercises no social or psychological power, but it is in control of the whole system; what it does, the individual cylinders have to follow. Now, I can understand an objection to calling those smaller cylinders slaves, even though this use of the term is well established in mechanical terminology. “Slave” is itself a fairly offensive term, which “master” is not, in and of itself. The elephant in the room, I feel, is how willing people have become to project offensiveness onto previously neutral terms. This is not an academic question. If we were to totally eradicate the word “slave” from English (along with the euphemistic “enslaved person”, etc.), we would be left with no word with which to discuss the history of forced labor in, say, ancient Rome. With no way to discuss it, we would be doomed to repeat it, as the saying goes. IMHO, as the son of a linguist (that’s SOL for short), all attempts from the “top down” to make language inoffensive merely antagonize someone, leading to more negativity. Look at any ultra-right blog, and you’ll find that the 1970s attempts to change “manhole cover” to “person-hole cover” are a primary source of anti-left-wing complaint. I’m not being partisan here; much of my anger as a left-leaning thoughtful person focuses on the Right’s weaponization of words like “woke.” Simply put, language doesn’t work by decree. It evolves. Trying to stand against the tide is futile, yet paradoxically, when gentler persuasion is used to change the thinking behind words, the language tends to follow. Think, for instance, of the original outcry against “Ms” which has by now become almost universal, because women provided a convincing rationale for the change, and a manageably simple alternative term. It is well known that adults, and even teenagers, have an almost impossible time learning a new language; our brains tend to harden in this regard, some time after puberty. Ordering someone to change the terms they grew up with ignores the fact that language change is gradual, evolutionary, and for most of us quite difficult. To the extent that we want to make our language more thoughtful and humane, we **must** start from a position of patience and persuasion. It can be done, but this is an arena in which too much force results in long-lasting backlash. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613/391 "2022-10-31T01:39:56Z")
> [@DopeSince54](#): > > the euphemistic “enslaved person” In my experience euphemisms are used to decrease the impact of words/phrases. AIUI using _enslaved person_ instead of _slave_ is an attempt to increase the impact. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-racist-to-use-the-term-master-bedroom/973613.md?page=19)