What is Dark Thesaurus?
Dark Thesaurus is an exploration of the hows and whys of the way people use the words “dark” and “black”. Dark Thesaurus includes a catalog of examples.
I do not subscribe to the assumption that “dark” = bad. AND I want other people to reconsider their word choice whenever the use the word dark to mean anything other than a visual absence of light.
Photo by Geoff Carr – www.carr-photo.com
Two quick examples
Example One: “It was a dark and stormy night.” This is a cliched but appropriate use of the word dark. The writer is describing a point in time when visibility is low or nonexistent. It is actually dark.
Example Two: “8 Books to Light the Dark Days Ahead” This title from Yes! Magazine is a disappointment because I expected more thoughtful wording from them and because they are using the word dark abstractly to mean bad, rough, undesirable or some other adjective.
But maybe I’m wrong. This is what Yes! said about what they meant:
Why does the precise use of words matter?
Applying dark and/or black as if they’re synonymous with negative feelings, actions, things perpetuates negative thinking about Black and Brown people. This is not an exaggeration but a calling out of subconscious programming.
If you have a strong reaction to taking the time to figuring out what you or the perpetrator of the misuse of the words means then you are holding on to deeply engrained racist thought patterns. Stop it.
Examples … I’ll list as I encounter …
I have a number of ideas about what to do with the examples I find. For now I’m just collecting them here.
[. ] I need to actually transfer examples from my Kindle and other random places I’ve collected them but …
Black Mirror
Source: Netflix – This sci-fi anthology series explores a twisted, high-tech near-future where humanity’s greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide.”
This is Netflix’s description of a show they list.