gender pronouns

See personal pronouns.

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genocide

OAJ suggests adopting the United Nations Convention definition of genocide, which is intent to destroy part of or the whole of one of four targeted groups:

1. a religious group;
2. an ethnic group;
3. a racial group;
4. or a national group;

through means such as:

1. killing members of the group;
2. causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
3. deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
4. imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
5. or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Genocide must include both the intent to destroy the group and the physical elements of destruction. The definition specifically excludes political groups from genocide, and excludes destruction of culture of a group but not of a targeted group itself. Likewise, intent must be shown to rise to the level of genocide. Similarly, a forced dispersal or expulsion of a group — such as ethnic cleansing — would not necessarily rise to the level of genocide.

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global warming

One aspect of climate change. Global warming is not interchangeable with the term climate change.

Per NASA in 2024, global warming is mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels and the trapping of heat-producing gases in the Earth’s atmosphere:

Global warming refers to the long-term warming of the planet. Global temperature shows a well-documented rise since the early 20th century and most notably since the late 1970s. Worldwide since 1880, the average surface temperature has risen about 1°C (about 2°F), relative to the mid-20th century baseline (of 1951-1980). This is on top of about an additional 0.15°C of warming from between 1750 and 1880.

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grandfather clause

In a legal sense, an exemption statement in statute, law, or ordinance permitting some of those affected by the law to continue using the previous statute, law, or ordinance. For example, a business may be exempt from restrictions from a new zoning ordinance.

Historically, grandfather clauses have been used as suppression tools against vulnerable groups of people.

The term comes from a reaction of southern states after the Civil War. In an effort to disenfranchise new Black voters, these states began passing laws in or around the 1890s that a person was eligible to vote only if he was eligible to vote before the right to vote (in 1867) or if his father or grandfather had been eligible to vote. For short, these laws were termed a grandfather clause.

In 1915, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled that these grandfather clauses were unconstitutionally in Guinn v. United States, even while upholding other types of segregationist poll tests and taxes in other cases.

The term continues to be used by some historical building preservationists or historical neighborhood commissions to avoid creating accessible entry to historical buildings built before the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA does not include a grandfather clause for historical properties open for public use or used by businesses from accessibility.

OAJ suggests placing the term grandfather clause in quotes when used in these contexts.

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