@danso lol

@carrideen this one took me a while

What is the best surface to print Dad jokes on?

#EvanPoll #poll #DadJokes

@Ellis my thoughts are here

https://cosocial.ca/@evan/117187355711781897

@johnefrancis elaborate!

So, I think my answer has to be somewhat important. There are too many other more important things -- such as conveying information, taking action, and achieving results.

But calling something by its right name does not in and of itself right the wrongs. Calling the attack on Gaza a genocide is correct, but that has not stopped the genocide. Right thinking might aid in right action, but it is not a substitute for right action. It is the beginning of justice, not the completion of it.

Names frame how we think. They are declarations of power -- who gets to say what the right name is. They are expressions of ideas and ways of thinking. They can mean a lot.

Calling things by their right name has been a prominent part of movements I've supported or been an active participant in for a long time.

Which letters should be included in 2SLGBTQIA+, what name to call occupied places, how we refer to software released under particular licenses.

Thanks to everyone who replied. Here are my thoughts:

@lohang it's still open!

@Ellis

https://evanp.me/pollfaq/#why

@jdlh OK. I guess I'd just say, answer the question the best you can. If you don't think there's such a thing as a "right name", that may affect how important it is to use the right name for things.

@jdlh a slur is a name, though.

@jdlh and, no, the question is not phrased as a gotcha!!

@jdlh I don't know if I have a heart generous enough or a mind flexible enough to say that calling someone a racial slur is better from a white nationalist point of view. There is an absolute scale on which that kind of name is worse precisely because of the POV it's used from. I realise it's an extreme example, sorry.

@jdlh well, do we agree that there are better names and worse names for things?

@chewey that is an important name to discover!

@kaleb hey, thank you so much. It's really nice to hear that you love my polls. I do too. They're one of my favourite parts of the Fediverse.

@diesch another might be using up-to-date binomial names for plants. Or the precise names for data structures.