Wordle Bans 'Slave' As New York Times Stops Users Entering Offensive Words

[sl8]

https://www.newsweek.com/wordle-bans-slave-new-york-times-offensive-words-banned-removed-1679793
(audio, video at link)

Wordle Bans 'Slave' As New York Times Stops Users Entering Offensive Words

BY GERRARD KAONGA ON 2/16/22 AT 8:52 AM EST

Wordle, the online word game that has become an internet phenomenon, has banned a number of "insensitive or offensive words" from the game since being purchased by the New York Times in January 2022, including the word "slave."

Users this week began noticing that words such as "slave," "whore" and "bitch" are no longer able to be entered in the game, where players have up to six attempts to guess a new five-letter word each day.

When these words are entered as a guess, the message "Not in the word list" pops up.

A spokesperson for the New York Times, who purchased the game for an undisclosed seven-figure sum, said the word list had been updated to remove words that they had deemed "insensitive or offensive."

[...]

[TlalocW]

1. More importantly

They still haven't bothered moving the word list out of an easily viewable javascript file.

TlalocW

[zaj]

2. I get it, but...

... slave seems is an artifact of human history, not a pejorative.

So I'm not sure why they deem it offensive.

[hlthe2b]

3. It is also a verb that is widely in use for some contexts.

[Sanity Claws]

4. Right

Isn't the term slave cylinder still used? I use the word slavish or slavishly every once in a while. I never thought it would be offensive.

[Blues Heron]

5. use your imagination?

[Ron Obvious]

6. Ridiculous

It's an ordinary English word.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. +100