No doubt there will be ugly consequences from my flippant remarks about Realtors last week if I should ever try to sell my house. I risk cheesing off another couple of occupations this week, which may cost me if I ever wind up in prison.

Greg Garland, an industrious and careful reporter who has written about upheaval in the state prison system, has received a note from a correctional officer complaining, as many have in the past, at The Sun’s use of the word guard. Corrections personnel often find the word demeaning and offensive.

Replying, Greg explained that editors here “see the word ‘guard’ as descriptive of what these people do rather than as a slur. In fact, correctional officers ‘guard’ us from the bad guys who are housed in prison and they traditionally have been known as ‘prison guards.’ It is not intended to denigrate the work being done by those who hold the job.”

Moreover, he also explains, the constraints of space in writing headlines make correctional officer a virtual impossibility, and it is often necessary to vary terms in text to avoid awkwardness in the writing — "A correctional officer who had been standing near the correctional officer who was stabbed reacted quickly to disarm the inmate." Both terms, correctional officer and guard, are in use in the paper, both are readily understood by readers, and no offense is intended.

The Sun has also relaxed its house style to allow the occasional use of cop, which has also been seen as a derogatory term.

Some years ago I was asked to prepare a response to a member of the state Board of Social Work Examiners who complained that The Sun uses the term social worker in reference to people who are not licensed as social workers. The contention was that legislation in 1976 limits the use of social worker to professionals who meet state certification. There was even an objection to the use of social work as a college major.

The difference between social worker and Realtor is that social worker had decades of history as a generic term before any legislation was passed. Without any disrespect for the august might of the Maryland General Assembly, we do not think that it holds sway over common nouns.

I suppose we could next expect to hear from another certification board that we cannot call anyone a teacher who has not been certified as such by state standards, even though there are multitudes of teachers who have no such certification. 

Our practice at The Sun is to respect the interests and preferences of special-interest groups insofar as it is practicable, but to favor words in common use as they are commonly understood.