Research Question Do different phrases describing gender pay equity vary in perceived acceptability? Method and Data A two-phased approach was used to answer the research question. In phase one, the researchers conducted an extensive search of literatures in communication, marketing, management, psychology, sociology and economics, as well as the popular press, to identify common terminology to discuss pay and pay equity in the workplace. Terms were determined to belong to one of four general framing categories-- neutral, moderate, gendered, or incendiary. In phase two, the researchers conducted a survey to measure sentiment reactions to these phrases. Survey respondents (N = 406) were registered users of Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Pay terms from all four frames were included in the survey to generate a range of responses. In addition to the pay-related terms and phrases, the researchers included demographic measures (gender, age, education, employment and marital status, ethnicity, number of children, household income, and political affiliation). Participants were randomly presented with ten terms out of the possible 26 (for each term, n = 141 to 184). Participants read terms one at a time and rated each in terms of discussing employee pay, on a scale of 0 ("strongly negative," "unreasonable and destructive") to 100 ("strongly positive," "reasonable and constructive"). Summary of Findings In general, respondents viewed phrases containing the words transparency, fair, fairness, and equity most favorably. All three neutral frame phrases using the term transparency (i.e., "full salary transparency" M = 73.16, "pay transparency" M = 72.03, and "salary transparency" M = 69.08) were among the top third of rated phrases. The highest ranked phrases come from the moderate frame, using positively oriented terminology: "fair pay" (M = 82.21), "equal pay" (M = 81.58), and "pay fairness" (M = 78.53). Moderate frame phrases with a negative orientation, such as "pay gap," (M = 36.73), "pay discrimination" (M = 29.35), and "wage penalty" (M = 32.89) were rated lower than other phrases in the moderate frame. The gendered frame did not have many positively perceived phrases, with the exception of "gender fair pay" (M = 74.95) and "gender pay equity" (M = 69.82), both of which include terms that are rated positively across phrases. Comparisons of ratings across demographic variables yielded some differences but not as many as one might expect. Thus, consideration of demographic data provides limited, but useful insight into which phrases might provide an acceptable frame around which to build a public will campaign. Key Contributions This study was guided by the overarching framework identifying political will and public will (Post et al., 2010; Raile et al., 2014) as tools to implement policy in response to social problems. Because policy efforts have not been effective in eliminating the gender pay disparity in the United States, the framework suggests that public will to address the issue might be lacking. Since addressing complex social problems starts with developing a common understanding of the problem among decision makers, a lack of shared understanding and problem recognition may be preventing the implementation of programs and policies aimed at pay equity. This study's results provide a first step in identifying phrases with positive associations for public stakeholders, and can guide strategic use of preferred phrases to use when discussing gender and pay (i.e., transparency, fair, fairness, and equity). By strategically adopting terminology that a majority of stakeholders perceive to honest and helpful, businesses, policy makers, and members of the public can effectively utilize the PPW framework to generate constructive solutions. One highly encouraging finding is that such conversations seem to be possible, provided that the participants use language that frames the issue in an honest, positive way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]