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Comment by ridaj | Hacker News Reader

What about when the landlord is a company? Or an actual man in fact? We're going from unnecessarily gendered to unnecessarily neutered word.

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Like most things, it depends on the situation. The point is to find something that does work. Surely there’s room for improvement?

A nudging system like this better have a much higher signal to noise ratio otherwise it really amps up the clippy-like annoyance. Keep in mind this isn't something you have to go turn on in a menu for "help me write inclusively", it's enabled by default for all; and while I might personally appreciate the reminders when they do work, I'm not sure as many users of the software think playing word police should be a priority.

Yes. I worry that I’m being misunderstood.

- It would be nice to improve our antiquated language. I’m thankful that other people have the time and expertise to work on this.

- Changing language by decree from our tech overlords is dystopian. Google in particular I don’t trust to act in good faith.

Both thoughts can be held simultaneously.

> - It would be nice to improve our antiquated language. I’m thankful that other people have the time and expertise to work on this.

Language constantly evolves through use, and historically this has worked very well. Why is it suddenly necessary for people to "work on" it?

> Surely there’s room for improvement?

A significant number of people, perhaps even a heavy majority, think there's nothing wrong with "landlord" that needs improvement. Change for change's sake isn't a great justification.

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