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What other tech synonyms are there for a master-slave relationship? The situation is a knob that controls other knobs, or a button that controls other buttons.

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Now that I think about it, this is probably better asked on english.stackexchange.com/questions – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner Sep 13 '11 at 21:12
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@Frustrated I don't think this has anything to do with EL&U, since the terms suggested have to make sense in a technical sense as well, but I'll check with a mod there to make sure. – Anna Lear♦ Sep 13 '11 at 21:17
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This question is attracting some seriously junky answers: the best place for single-word (or in this case, double-word) requests is English.SE, where you'll likely have a better time getting people to provide useful explanations as to why one pair of words is better than another. – user8 Sep 13 '11 at 22:02
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@Robert (and everyone else): if you want to discuss the finer points of offensive language, use chat. If you don't agree with the premise of the question, feel free to down-vote. – user8 Sep 13 '11 at 22:09

closed as not constructive by Robert Harvey, David Thornley, Rook, Mark Trapp Sep 13 '11 at 22:00

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3 Answers

up vote 9 down vote

Are you talking about master & slave as used for hard disks? In this case, master & slave are actually a politically correct terms to use. It would also be politically correct to apply those terms to software parts.

Otherwise, you may use some terms depending on the context: primary & secondary, parent & child, etc.

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"Slave" as in "slavishly following". – ChrisF♦ Sep 13 '11 at 21:40
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I think master/slave is fine as long as SATA has a safe word! – Martin Beckett Sep 13 '11 at 22:22
up vote 5 down vote

You could go with "Parent" and "Child". I guess "Manager" and "Worker" are also possible, though I don't see that nearly as often. Also possible is "Controller" and "Controllee" though that sounds weird, and I'm not even sure if "Controlee" is a word.

On the fun side of things, you could try something like "Overlord" and "Minion". Or "Hero" and "Sidekick". Or "BigBoss" and "Lackey". Or "Captain" and "Sailor". ;)

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I could live with that last one ;) – Rook Sep 13 '11 at 21:57
Apart from that, when talking in HDD context, primary/secondary might actually work. – Rook Sep 13 '11 at 21:58
@Rook: Sailors will be offended. – Robert Harvey Sep 13 '11 at 22:07
@Robert - You serious? Why? ... – Rook Sep 13 '11 at 22:13
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@FrustratedWithFormsDesign, I've also been thinking about "supercontrol" and "subcontrol" (or "underling"). Thanks for thinking about this, it definitely helps. +1 – Yar Sep 14 '11 at 1:51
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up vote 3 down vote

How about Parent / Child(ren) ?

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