Alphabetical Entries: R

reasonable and prudent person/individual; reasonable, prudent person; reasonable person; the ordinary, reasonable, prudent person (ORP person); the average person; objective standard of reasonableness. See also reasonable woman (law).

in determining whether conduct or statements are sufficiently severe to rise to the level of unlawful sexual harassment, some state courts have relied upon a 'reasonable woman' standard. Under federal law, however, an objective standard, the 'reasonable person' standard, as well as the victim's subjective perception are applied to determine whether a hostile or abusive work environment exists (N. Elizabeth Fried, Sex, Laws & Stereotypes). The "reasonable man" does not always agree with the "reasonable woman" about what constitutes sexual harassment. See also reasonable and prudent man.

rebel by itself isn't very revealing. Some rebels are fighting oppression and unjust systems. Some rebels are murderers and terrorists. Give readers a context and a clear description of the rebels' methods and goals.

woman or man.

depending on the denomination, this may be either a woman or a man.

prostitution district. One explanation for the term is that train crews left their red lanterns outside the house of prostitution so they could be located in case of an emergency. When owners of brothels realized this was an excellent way to advertise, the custom spread.

absolutely no. Use: American Indian, Native American, first American. Or, use specific name (Chippewa, Dine). See also American Indian, Native American, redskin, sports teams' names and mascots.

this is much more likely to be used of a woman than of a man. It's not offensive in itself and has its uses but, in general, question the labeling of women by facets of their appearance and the need to talk about their hair.

this classist, judgmental, and inflammatory term is used mostly of men. If you mean "bigot" or "racist" or "conservative," use those terms instead of the vague "redneck"; all it conveys is that you think the person is beneath you. Geoffrey Nunberg (Talking Right) offers a surprising perspective on the use of the term: "The word redneck is about 20 times more likely to appear in the pages of conservative publications like National Review than in the Nation or the American Prospect, chiefly because conservatives are fond of setting the word in the mouths of imaginary left-wing elitists in the course of reminding the good people of the heartland how much contempt liberals have for them. The same ratio applies to the dismissive 'flyover country,' which is ten times as likely to appear in National Review as in the Nation or the American Prospect."

this reference to American Indians is always unacceptable; dictionaries variously label it taboo, offensive, insulting, or disparaging. "Redskin, whose earliest known written instance is 1699, was one of the first slur-names given by white settlers to the Native Americans they encountered" (Irving Lewis Allen, Unkind Words). Although anecdotally it appears that some American Indians do not particularly object to the term, for the rest of us, it is off limits: "The R-word is the moral equivalent of the N-word. It packs the same level of bigotry and insensitivity for Native Americans as any other racial slur" (Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, NAACP, August 24, 2018).

in 1997, Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer became the first women to officiate in men's professional sports (USA Weekend). See also umpire/ump.

recovering alcoholic. In writing or speaking about alcoholism, treat it as a disease, not as a moral offense, although the consequences of alcoholism (deaths caused by drunk drivers, for example) are certainly matters for discussion. Normally, the people-first guidance would argue for a construction like "someone who has/is living with alcoholism" rather than a noun like "alcoholic," which describes a whole person by what is only part of them. So far, the language isn't moving in that direction; until then, use the noun "alcoholic" only as necessary and as sparingly as possible.

by definition, a refugee is fleeing war, political oppression, or religious persecution. "Refugee" is not interchangeable with "immigrant" (someone who leaves their country voluntarily) and it is not used for people who have been in a country long enough to be settled. "Migrants" move to another country for reasons other than conflict and persecution. Internally displaced people seek safety in other parts of their own country. “Asylum seekers” ask for international protection from conflict and persecution. “Returnees” are those who have returned home after being displaced. “Exiles” have been thrown out or forced to flee authoritarian regimes. See also asylum seeker, emigrant/immigrant, illegal alien/illegal/illegal immigrant, migrant.

these words are based on the Latin rex for king, but they no longer have any strong male associations, except perhaps for those who know Latin. Either a woman or a man may be regal or a regent.

the media tend to use regime much more often when they're talking about governments that are unfriendly to the United States than when they're talking about U.S. allies, independent of how unstable or undemocratic the governments are (Geoffrey Nunberg, Talking Right). Governments rarely self-identify as regimes; for a neutral term, use government, administration, political system, ruling party. In general, use "regime" only when quoting a government official. See also regime change.

a euphemism for the forcible overthrow and replacement of a government by another nation, regime change is considered by many to be a violation of international law.

terms like "the Christian right" and "the religious right" are sometimes—but not always correctly—used interchangeably. The terms are also considered by many to be pejorative as they are used mostly by opponents. However, the Christian Coalition, which describes much of what is understood by these terms, is a self-chosen name and thus acceptable. Because this coalition is a many-tentacled thing, verify who and what it includes before writing about any of its aspects. For example, Citizens for Excellence in Education, a division of the National Association of Christian Educators, was formed to take over school boards across the U.S. (Cecile Richards, in Sisterhood Is Forever). Other well-funded and highly activist organizations with a heavily Christian orientation and huge memberships include the American Family Association (designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center), Focus on the Family, and Concerned Women for America. See also Christianity, stereotypes.

when dealing with this topic, keep in mind (1) the Irish slogan, "You have rights, your beliefs do not," (2) the Constitution ensures both freedom of religion and freedom from religion, which means that (3) you are free to practice your religion; you may not oblige other people to practice tenets of your religion.

years ago the term used to describe the internment was 'relocation.' That it is still used in textbooks to describe the internment is discouraging (Mark Sweeting, in Rethinking Schools). "Relocation center" was the term used by the federal government to describe the 10 camps where more than 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were held without charges for three years during World War II. West-coast Japanese Americans (two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens) were forced into hastily built prisons in western desert regions. Among violated Constitutional rights were freedom of speech, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, the right to be informed by charges, the right to a speedy and public trial, the right to legal counsel, the right to a trial by jury, and the right to equal protection under the law. Instead of "relocation," use the factually accurate term, which might be: internment, incarceration, imprisonment, genocide. "Relocation" (with "some untoward incidents") is also the term used by the Turkish Historical Society for the slaughter of more than a million Armenians between 1914 and 1918 (Elif Safak, The Bastard of Istanbul). See also Armenian genocide, resettlement.

the American Heritage Dictionary gives identical definitions for Renaissance woman and Renaissance man.

along with "raiders," this term is often used with bias, depending upon which side you're taking. For American Indians, for example, their story is one of resistance and survival, fighting to maintain land, culture, and community. Adjectives often used of Indians ("warlike," "bloodthirsty," or "treacherous") do not ask whether a group resorted to war in self-defense or whether their opponents might not also have been warlike, bloodthirsty, and treacherous, in addition perhaps to greedy and racist. See also American Indian, sports teams' names and mascots.

unobjectionable term, despite being sometimes questioned as possibly racist. It's not.

repairer, service rep/technician, servicer, adjuster, technician, mechanic, fixer, troubleshooter, custodian. Or, be specific: plumber, electrician, carpenter, roofer, etc. In England a repairman is a "fitter," a tidy, useful word.

repossessor, the repo.

see congressman.