By now, we’re all aware of Siri’s often sassy nature. But Apple’s personal assistant has recently come under fire for one dictionary entry.
Specifically, one definition was discovered by Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson and was quickly deemed offensive. After giving the biological definition of the word “bitch” (a female dog), Siri declares the word is also “black slang” for a woman.
First off, it’s not just Siri. Apple’s built in dictionary in OS X El Capitan and Yosemite also surfaces the definition. Google, which has displayed word definitions in search results for years, also turned up the same thing — but the company appears to have now changed the search results. The definition no longer appeared in Google searches at the time of writing Thursday evening, although it appeared earlier in the day. Apple and Google didn’t respond to Mashable’srequest for comment on the matter.
Both companies appear to be pulling their definitions from the New Oxford American Dictionary. But when you check Oxford’s online dictionary, it lists the “a woman” definition with a tag that says “offensive.” The Kindle version of the New Oxford American Dictionary also leaves it out the “black slang” moniker. So what gives?