The words and phrases permeate nearly every aspect of our society. “Master bedrooms” in our homes. “Blacklists” and “whitelists” in computing. The idiom “sold down the river” in our everyday speech.

In his letter to the editor, Jack Elder talked about the definition of the word “Dixie” (“‘Dixie’ isn’t racist,” July 26). We must remember the English language is a living, constantly changing thing.

Yes it does have a negative connotation especially when used with slave. Many people will roll their eyes and make it appear that the case of someone using the negative connotation of master/slave in ...

"I love it because, in one word, you can refer to the alphabet soup of gay, lesbian, bisexual, questioning, `heteroflexible,' `omnisexual,' `pansexual' and all of the other shades of difference in ...

Nigella Lawson changed the 2002 recipe name for a raspberry jelly dessert to remove the word "slut." The celebrity chef explained she feels unhappy with the word's "cruel connotation." Lawson, 61, ...

Your story on how the brain stores and organises words gave a fascinating glimpse into the neurological underpinning of category formation (5 January, p 10). It reminded me of the distinction, ...

Selecting the right words to describe something can be difficult, and that’s perhaps particularly true for physical contact. Words like “tapped,” “struck,” “hit,” and “punched” all might be used to ...

I'm working on a project for which we need to keep a running list of items. Someone suggested that we call it the "Master Tracking List", and I instantly found that a little off-putting. For me, it ...