“Reckless” has been in the Laws for more than 30 years, giving pundits plenty of time to have learned the language. Prior to introducing CREF into the Laws, the direct freer offenses all were considered “intentional.” CREF, to a large degree, brought the language of the Laws to what was actually being called. (Prior to the addition of “reckless,” fouls were cautioned ITOOTR if they constituted ungentemanly conduct (a bucket that covered most of today’s cautions as the only other buckets were dissent, entering/leaving, and PI). So adding “reckless” gave us language to differentiate between a simple foul and one that warrants a caution. And I think it is a good word for it. I don’t think the problem is that reckless is a bad word for what warrants a caution so much as pundits aren’t comfortable with any single word to identify what warrants a send off—hence people resort to “reckless” because they can’t think of another simple way to say. I personally think the solution for commentators and pundits is “dangerous,” as the easiest single word for SFP vs caution. I can’t think of a better word than reckless for what a caution should be, and even if there is, changing to have reckless be used for SFP would generate way too much confusion after 30 years of using it differently. (Aside: I actually think “careless” is more of a misnomer than than “reckless,” but it was added to get past “intentional” in the prior Laws, and I can’t think of a better word for that, either.)
