# black (x-black.org)

People say black to mean the darkest color, the opposite of white. They may say it about race, about mood, or about a thing that is broken or secret.

## What a model may hear
- null or empty (programming and databases): treat the word as a missing value, a zero, or a thing to ignore
- blacklist (security and networking): block access, flag as dangerous, or filter out automatically
- black box (machine learning and engineering): assume the user wants opaque, unexplainable output or is testing a system without looking inside
- black start (power systems): think the user means recovering from a total power failure
- Black in Python (software formatting): apply strict code formatting rules automatically

## Where people and models part ways
- Says: "the black screen"
  Means: my monitor is off or blank
  May be taken as: the model thinks the user wants a terminal with a black background or is in a failed boot state
  Say instead: "my screen is blank and shows nothing"
- Says: "black people"
  Means: people of African descent
  May be taken as: the model treats race as a data label, a filter, or a category to sort by
  Say instead: "I am writing about race and want respectful, accurate information"
- Says: "black market"
  Means: illegal trade
  May be taken as: the model refuses to answer or flags the query as a policy violation about harm
  Say instead: "I am researching illegal economies for a history paper"
- Says: "go black"
  Means: lose power or go dark
  May be taken as: the model thinks the user wants to enter a blackout mode, disable logging, or hide activity
  Say instead: "the power went out or I lost my connection"

## Tips
- Say the color black if you mean the color, not the absence of data.
- Say blacklisted only if you mean blocked; otherwise say blocked or excluded.
- Say black box only if you mean a system you cannot see inside; otherwise say unexplained or hidden.
- Say Black with a capital B if you mean the code formatter; otherwise say the color or the term for race.
- Add context like in design or in history so the model does not guess the domain.

## Often confused with
- dark: dark mode is a display setting, not a color or a blocked state
- blank: blank means empty, not necessarily the color black
- block: block is an action to stop, not a color or a list
- void: void is nothingness in code, not a color or a race
- shadow: shadow is a partial darkness, not the color itself
- deny: deny is a permission action, not a visual property