A Short Glossary of Inclusive Language

Words matter—that old adage that many of us may have heard as children,

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,

is a harmful fallacy. In reality, the language we use has tremendous power to alienate, exclude, deride, humiliate, and wound.

On the other hand, thoughtful use of language can signal openness, inclusivity, admiration, and celebration, or simply be an expression of empathy and care for our fellow humans. As part
of The Oceanography Society (TOS) Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee’s series of columns in Oceanography, here we provide a glossary of terms that are often used while discussing topics such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

It should be explicitly stated that this list is neither definitive nor exhaustive. Indeed, the terms included here are likely heavily influenced by the authors’ own lived experiences and the lenses
through which we see the world. Language is a living entity, a fluid social construct subject to rapid changes and overlaid with regional nuances. Indeed, what may be accurate and acceptable terminology for one person may be entirely unacceptable for another. Keeping this in mind, the following glossary is an attempt to group together some of the acronyms and phrases that are most commonly used today in social justice studies and bodies of work and that may have particular relevance to our community of ocean-related scientists, technologists, and stakeholders. We have borrowed heavily from a wide range of excellent existing scholarship and activism and have cited all sources used. We encourage the reader to follow the links to these multimedia resources and, perhaps, use them as teaching and discussion materials with your students, colleagues, and mentees. Finally, it is our hope that this glossary, along with the links provided to more comprehensive definitions and discussions, helps to define terms that you may have heard used, but not understood, and that it will serve to remind us of the power of the words we use in our everyday professional and personal lives. We begin by defining the very words that form the name of our committee: Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI)