Afro-American Wordlist*

 

“bad”                                             “Black is beautiful”

“boy”                                              “death row”

“honkey”                                         “I have a dream”

“nigger”                                          “separate but equal” (schools)

“soul food”                                      1619

1863                                                1968

Abraham Lincoln                               Alex Haley

Alice Walker                                    Angela Davies

bigotry                                            Billie Holiday

Bill Cosby                                        Black Power

Black Panthers                                 Black Muslims

Blacks                                             Booker T. Washington

break dancing                                  bussing

Cassius Clay                                     Civil Rights

“Colored”                                        crime

desegregation                                  Diana Ross

Eddie Murphy                                   Emancipation Proclamation

entertainment                                  George Washington Carver

ghetto                                             gospel music

Harlem                                            Harriet Tubman

Islam                                               integration

jazz                                                Jesse Jackson

Ku Klux Klan                                     Kwanzaa

Louis Armstrong                                Malcolm X

Martin Luther King                            Michael Jackson

Michael Jordan                                 Mohammed Ali

Montgomery, Alabama                       Motown

music                                              NAACP

Nat King Cole                                   Natalie Cole

Negroes                                           Nobel Peace prize winner

prejudice                                        racism

rapping                                           rock ‘n roll

Roots                                              Sammy Davis Jr.

segregation                                      Selma, Alabama

slavery                                            Southern Baptists

spirituals                                         sports

Stevie Wonder                                 Tina Turner

“Uncle Tom”                                    Uncle Tom’s Cabin

“Underground Railroad”                    Whoopie Goldberg

 

This list is a limited sampling of words and phrases you may come across when reading, writing or discussing matters concerning African-Americans. Teachers and students should pay special attention to colloquial/slang expressions and inform students of the use and abuse of such words.  I would appreciate any comments from African-Americans as to the use or misuse of any of these words.


 

Native American Wordlist*

 

American Indian Movement (AIM)         Apache

Blackfeet                                          bison

buffalo                                             Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)

calumet                                            Cherokee

canoe                                               Cheyenne

cradleboards                                     Dakota (Sioux)

farmers                                            Geronimo

General George Custer                       Ghost Dance

hogan                                               herders

Hopi                                                 horse

Inuit                                                 Iroquois Confederacy/Nation

Kwakiutl                                           lacrosse

Little Big Horn                                   longhouse

medicine man                                   moccasins

Mohawks                                          Mohicans

Navajo                                             nomadic

papoose                                           potlatch

Pueblo Indians                                   reservation

Seminole                                          shaman

Taos                                                 tepee

tomahawk                                        totem pole

Trail of Tears                                    wampum

whaling                                            Wounded Knee

Wovoka

 

* This list is a limited sampling of words and phrases you may come across when reading, writing or discussing matters concerning Native Americans. I would appreciate any comments from Native Americans as to the use or misuse of any of these words.

 


US Immigration/Emigration/Migration Wordlist*

 

 1607                                                Jews

1849                                                 jobs

1862                                                 Koreans

adapt                                               language

Afro-Americans?                                Los Angeles

alien                                                melting pot  

Americanization                                Mexicans

Asians                                               Midwest

assimilation                                       immigration

bilingual education                            Minnesota

border                                              Native Americans?

California                                         Nativists

cheap labor                                      New York

Chinese                                            Norwegians

citizenship                                        persecution

crime                                               Poles

Cubans                                             politics

cultural diversity                               prejudice

discrimination                                   «push» and «pull»

education                                         quotas

Ellis Island                                         race

emigration                                        railroad

equal rights                                       refugee

Europe                                             religion

family                                              residence permit

food                                                 salad bowl

foreign                                             school

freedom                                           South Americans

Germans                                           Statue of Liberty

ghetto                                              stereotype

gold                                                 «Sun Belt»

green card                                        traditions

Haitians                                            visa

Hispanic                                           WASP

Homestead Act                                  waves

housing                                             West (frontier)

illegal                                               “wetback”

immigration                                      When?

integration                                        Where?

Irish                                                 Who?

Italians                                             Why?

Jamestown                                       work permit

 

* This list is a limited sampling of words and phrases you may come across when reading, writing or discussing matters concerning US immigration, emigration and migration. I would appreciate any comments as to the use or misuse of any of these words.

 


 

Environment Wordlist*

 

Cfc                                                  change         

Chernoby                                          climate        

coal                                                 conservation

consume                                           convert        

dams                                                dangerous

deforestation                                    dump 

ecology                                            efficient      

emission                                           endanger

energy                                              environment

filters                                               fossil fuel     

fumes                                               gas     

gasoline                                            geothermal

greenhouse effect                             hazardous

hydroelectric                                    inexpensive

nuclear                                             oil      

ozone layer                                       pesticide     

poisonous                                         pollute

recycle                                             regulation

renewable                                        smog  

solar                                                 tidal   

toxic                                                turbine        

uranium                                            wind

windmill                                          

 

* This list is a limited sampling of words and phrases you may come across when reading, writing or discussing matters concerning ecology or the environment.

 


School Wordlist*

 

Academic                                         algebra        

Numbers                                           baseball                 

basketball                                         biology        

boarding                                           books 

campus                                             caning

Chinese                                            coeducation

college                                             university

compulsory                                       corporal punishmewnt     

counselor                                          curriculum   

degree                                             diploma        

discipline                                          dormitory   

drugs                                                Dutch  

education                                         electives       

examinations                                     extracurricular                 

fail                                                   football                 

French                                              geography             

German                                            gifted  

grades                                              graduate       

grammar                                           gym    

headmaster                                       highschool  

history                                             homework  

illiterate                                           Italian  

learn                                                lessons          

library                                              loan    

locker                                              marks

math                                                mathematics

maths                                               Norwegian  

obligatory                                         parochial    

pass                                                 philosophy  

physics                                             principal     

psychology                                        pupil   

quiz                                                 religion         

Russian                                             scholarship  

school                                              soccer          

sociology                                          Spanish         

sports                                               student        

subjects                                            swimming              

teacher                                            test    

tuition                                              tutor  

undergraduate                                   uniform        

university                                        

 

* This list is a limited sampling of words and phrases you may come across when reading, writing or discussing matters concerning schools, especially American schools.

 

   


British and American Car Words

 

BRITISH  ENGLISH           AMERICAN ENGLISH                 

 

accelerator                     gas pedal

aerial                            antenna

bodyshell                       chassis

bonnet                           hood 

boot                             trunk

dipped lights                  lowbeam lights

dynamo                         generator

estate car                      station wagon

gear stick                       gear shift

glove box                      glove compartment

handbrake                      emergency brake

indicator                        blinker, turn signal

main lights                     highbeams or brights

mileometer                    odometer

mudguard                       mudflap

pedal brake                    foot brake

petrol cap                      gas cap

rear light                        tail light

reversing light                backup light

saloon                            sedan

sidelight                         parking light

silencer                         muffle

sparking plug                  sparkplug

tyre                              tire

windscreen                     windshield

windscreen washer          windshield washer

windscreen wipers         windshield wipers

wing                               fender

wing mirror                    side mirror

 

   


Hand Tools

 

anvil

vernier calliper

inside calliper

chisel

outside calliper

clamp

drill

file

hacksaw

hammer

handsaw

micrometer

pliers

protractor

punch

reamer

try-square

ripsaw

ruler

saw

screwdriver

spanner

vice

wrench

 

   


Work/Employment Wordlist*

 

advertisement

application

apply

appointment

benefit

boring

boss

business

career

compensation

competition

computer

corporation

curriculum

depression

disability

discrimination

dole

earn

education

efficiency

employee

employer

employment

equal

executive

expenses

experience

factory

fire

government

health

hire

hobby

income

interests

interview

leave

lifestyle

manager

marital

maternity

multinational

opportunity

paternity

paycheck

pension

personnel

position

post

profession

profit

promotion

qualifications

quit

recession

recommendation

redundant

reference

resume

retirement

retraining

salary

semiskilled

skill

skilled

staff

status

strike

surname

talent

taxes

tedious

tips

unemployed

union

unskilled

vacancy

wages

welfare

work

worker

 

* This list is a limited sampling of words and phrases you may come across when reading, writing or discussing matters concerning work, employment, job interviews and job applications.


 

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