# Preferred Words and Do-Not-Use List

Maintain contextual word choices, discouraged language, plain alternatives, reasons, examples, exceptions, regional notes, and review ownership.

## Usage note

Use this list to explain repeatable language decisions, not to police harmless individual expression or run blind replacements. Every discouraged term needs a contextual reason and usable alternative. Preserve quotations, legal names, technical accuracy, and community self-identification where appropriate, with qualified review for consequential cases.

## How to use this template

1. Collect recurring terms from edits, research, support confusion, community guidance, localization, and product changes.
2. Define the problematic meaning and context, then document current evidence and affected readers.
3. Propose plain, accurate alternatives with positive and negative examples plus legitimate exceptions.
4. Obtain the appropriate editorial, subject, legal, or community-informed review and publish the decision.
5. Migrate carefully, audit usage, capture questions, and review entries when language or context changes.

## Blank template

### Entry evidence

- **Entry ID:** [Durable identifier]
- **Term or phrase:** [Language under review]
- **Problematic context:** [Where and how it causes concern]
- **Reason:** [Ambiguous, inaccurate, outdated, stigmatizing, vague, or another]
- **Reader effect:** [Confusion, exclusion, wrong action, or another]
- **Evidence:** [Research, guidance, edit pattern, or source]
- **Evidence date:** [YYYY-MM-DD]
- **Owner:** [Qualified role]

### Preferred guidance

- **Preferred alternative:** [Term or instruction]
- **Meaning:** [What it should communicate]
- **Use when:** [Context]
- **Do not use when:** [Boundary]
- **Good example:** [Sentence with suitable wording]
- **Revise this example:** [Sentence showing the problem]
- **Better revision:** [Contextual replacement]
- **No direct replacement:** [Question the writer should answer]

### Exceptions and language

- **Legitimate exception:** [Quotation, proper name, formal term, self-identification, or another]
- **First-use explanation:** [If a formal term remains]
- **Regional variation:** [Locale-specific note]
- **Localization guidance:** [Concept and risk; avoid literal substitution]
- **Grammar or capitalization:** [Relevant forms]
- [ ] The alternative preserves factual and technical meaning.
- [ ] The guidance does not erase a person’s chosen self-description.
- [ ] Search-and-replace is safe only after contextual review.

### Lifecycle

- **Approved by:** [Name or role]
- **Effective date:** [YYYY-MM-DD]
- **Affected content:** [High-priority locations]
- **Migration owner:** [Role and due date]
- **Questions route:** [Where writers ask]
- **Review trigger:** [Language, product, legal, or community change]
- **Superseded entry:** [ID or None]