Help - what does ‘woke’ mean.

[BanburyBlue]

Can any of you clever people explain, in words of one syllable, what ‘woke’ means. Another word I keep hearing is ‘snowflake’.

Feel like a right old fuddy duddy!!

 

[yorksrob]

I think it's a trendy version of the loony left.

 

[johnnychips]

I believe a ‘snowflake’ is a term for someone who gets upset or outraged by trivial things far too easily.

 

[telstarbox]

It's a bit more involved than that. Wiktionary gives a good summary - it started as in the first two definitions among Black Americans and then people on the right started using it in a mocking way against the left.

(dialect, African-American Vernacular or slang) Awake: conscious and not asleep.

(chiefly African-American Vernacular, slang) Alert, aware of what is going on, or well-informed, especially in racial and other social justice issues.

(slang, often derogatory) Holding left-wing views or attitudes, principally with regards to certain social justice issues or to an excessive degree. quotations

 

[Darandio]

It's the bit in between your first two coffees. First one makes you woke, second means you are awoke.

 

[yorkie]

Can any of you clever people explain, in words of one syllable, what ‘woke’ means....

From another thread:

It's an informal term originating in the US which means different things to different people.

There is no universal agreement on what the term means and never will be; it was originally used in the US to mean 'awareness of injustice' but it has since gained negative connotations as the term has been used to describe extremist behaviour by far left extremists and the term is often used in a derogatory manner. When I hear the term, it is generally used negatively to describe behaviour of people when trying to cancel something or complain about something (such as the LNER announcement fiasco).

It is probably best to avoid the use of the term, as people on different 'sides' will have completely different ideas as to what the term means; if you asked 10 people, you would probably get 10 different answers. It is a divisive matter, that's for sure.

Another word I keep hearing is ‘snowflake’.

I concur with this:

I believe a ‘snowflake’ is a term for someone who gets upset or outraged by trivial things far too easily.

It can also be used by some people (erroneously, I'd argue) as a generalised term to refer to younger generations, which I think is a bit unfair as most young people are not like that at all.

The opposite of this is that some young people have been known to use the term "boomer" to be dismissive towards older people, e.g. the use of the phrase "OK Boomer".

Feel like a right old fuddy duddy!!

Young teenagers today seem to be more likely to know what terms like "poggers" or "rage-quit" mean than words like "dubious", and if they say something is "sick" that means it's good.

 

[BanburyBlue]

It's the bit in between your first two coffees. First one makes you woke, second means you are awoke.

Ah - good thought

From another thread:




I concur with this:

It can also be used by some people (erroneously, I'd argue) as a generalised term to refer to younger generations, which I think is a bit unfair as most young people are not like that at all.

The opposite of this is that some young people have been known to use the term "boomer" to be dismissive towards older people, e.g. the use of the phrase "OK Boomer".



Young teenagers today seem to be more likely to know what terms like "poggers" or "rage-quit" mean than words like "dubious", and if they say something is "sick" that means it's good.

Much to my wife’s annoyance, once I worked out ‘sick’ meant good, I used it all the time with youngsters. Was quite fun seeing their confused faces.

 

[GusB]

Young teenagers today seem to be more likely to know what terms like "poggers" or "rage-quit" mean than words like "dubious", and if they say something is "sick" that means it's good.

I think I've just graduated to "fuddy-duddy" level.

 

[AlterEgo]

It's a bit more involved than that. Wiktionary gives a good summary - it started as in the first two definitions among Black Americans and then people on the right started using it in a mocking way against the left.

It was co-opted first from “Black Twitter” by white liberals who wore it as a badge of honour. Then the meaning was twisted by the right.

 

[GusB]

"Woke" is a horrible term. To me it seemed to emerge at the same time as "virtue signalling" and "snowflake", and it appears to be a word that is used by those who hold slightly bigoted tendencies use to beat those who are rather more enlightened in the ways of the modern world. In short, it seems to have become a derogatory term for "open-minded".

 

[AlterEgo]

"Woke" is a horrible term. To me it seemed to emerge at the same time as "virtue signalling" and "snowflake", and it appears to be a word that is used by those who hold slightly bigoted tendencies use to beat those who are rather more enlightened in the ways of the modern world. In short, it seems to have become a derogatory term for "open-minded".

Woke is a specific world-view which, at its core, is very closed minded and just as much so as the conservative right.

 

[GusB]

Woke is a specific world-view which, at its core, is very closed minded and just as much so as the conservative right.

I don't think "woke" is closed-minded at all. It's just a name given to any sort of world-view that the conservative right feels threatened by.

 

[AlterEgo]

I don't think "woke" is closed-minded at all. It's just a name given to any sort of world-view that the conservative right feels threatened by.

It was invented and then appropriated by the people whom it describes. It isn’t the “conservative right’s word”.

 

[GusB]

It was invented and then appropriated by the people whom it describes. It isn’t the “conservative right’s word”.

It's the conservative right that love to use it, though.

 

[AlterEgo]

It's the conservative right that love to use it, though.

Yes, but it has a specific meaning which hasn't deviated much beyond what it first meant when it was self-applied by social justice activists in the 2000s. I tend to agree the word has been overused, though, and is pretty unhelpful. It is strategically better to attack bad ideas with reason, or simply by retaining political power and saying "no".

The "woke" movement has been mostly exhausted as far as I can see and it is the right which is now slashing at ghosts.

 

[341o2]

Someone described as a snowflake has a sense of entitlement, believing themselves to be special, but are not, also sensitive to the point of being unable to cope with differing views.
A boomer was born between 1946 and 1964, when the baby boom occurred postwar

 

[WestRiding]

Can any of you clever people explain, in words of one syllable, what ‘woke’ means. Another word I keep hearing is ‘snowflake’.

Feel like a right old fuddy duddy!!

Probably not correct, but to me, it means; pathetic, delicate, easily offended, someone who wants to ban everything.

 

[Ianno87]

The actual definitions are:

Woke: Alert to injustice in society*

Snowflake: A very sensitive person. Someone who is easily hurt or offended by the statements or actions of others.**


*So people (usually on the right) band about 'woke' because they don't want to accept that their own attitudes and lifestyles are outdated and may have to change

**Usually banded at others by those, ironically, getting disproportionately upset by something that has literally no affect on them.

 

[richa2002]

I don't think "woke" is closed-minded at all. It's just a name given to any sort of world-view that the conservative right feels threatened by.

The word is over-used but there's little doubt about the world view it describes. One where everyone is judged/treated by their skin colour/gender/sexuality etc. It is also monumentally intolerant of any dissenting views, treating them as evil and those espousing them as evil, seeking to destroy them via the loss of their job/financial security/status in society. Much like medieval attitudes to blasphemy. Open minded is certainly not a phrase I would use to describe it.

 

[High Dyke]

The "woke" movement has been mostly exhausted as far as I can see and it is the right which is now slashing at ghosts.

"Whoosh!"

 

[DarloRich]

it is a word that now means nothing ( if it ever meant anything) other than to be used by silly, frightened, generally older, right wing crack pots to try and discredit change (or even the potential of change) in society they don't understand or like.

It is so boring. It just makes the user look silly. Same as snowflake. They are terms used by right wing media and social media influencers to generate a negative response to a small issue by people who seem to be very easily "triggered".

The term "snowflake" seems to be used as an attack by people for whom the definition is more accurate!

The word is over-used but there's little doubt about the world view it describes. One where everyone is judged/treated by their skin colour/gender/sexuality etc. It is also monumentally intolerant of any dissenting views, treating them as evil and those espousing them as evil, seeking to destroy them via the loss of their job/financial security/status in society. Much like medieval attitudes to blasphemy. Open minded is certainly not a phrase I would use to describe it.

This is the standard response from right wing cranks. Translated it means: Someone has picked me up on an attitude I displayed, suggested I change it and I don't like it. How dare they!

 

[brad465]

The actual definitions are:

Woke: Alert to injustice in society*

Snowflake: A very sensitive person. Someone who is easily hurt or offended by the statements or actions of others.**


*So people (usually on the right) band about 'woke' because they don't want to accept that their own attitudes and lifestyles are outdated and may have to change

**Usually banded at others by those, ironically, getting disproportionately upset by something that has literally no affect on them.

100% agree here.

I do wonder how many people who use the word woke as an insult actually know what it means; they are by definition supporting injustice in society by calling other people it in a derogatory manner.

 

[DarloRich]

I do wonder how many people who use the word woke as an insult actually know what it means;

Of course they don't know what it means: It means what their favoured right wing ranter/pedler of easy solutions to complex issues tells them it means

 

[swj99]

it is a word that now means nothing ( if it ever meant anything) other than to be used by silly, frightened, generally older, right wing crack pots to try and discredit change (or even the potential of change) in society they don't understand or like.

It is so boring. It just makes the user look silly. Same as snowflake. They are terms used by right wing media and social media influencers to generate a negative response to a small issue by people who seem to be very easily "triggered".

The term "snowflake" seems to be used as an attack by people for whom the definition is more accurate!


This is the standard response from right wing cranks. Translated it means: Someone has picked me up on an attitude I displayed, suggested I change it and I don't like it. How dare they!

Good point. I think it’s related to the word ‘troll’. One online definition is, “a person who posts inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community”
However due to how it gets used as a means of labelling someone with opposing views, I would say the definition has evolved and can now also mean, “Someone on the internet with whom you disagree.”

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Woke: Alert to injustice in society*

That's not really helpful because it describes almost everyone who has an interest in politics: People of all political hues are alert to injustice in society. But different people have very different ideas of what constitutes injustice. For some people, one person earning much more than another person is injustice, for some people, different groups of people achieving different academic results is an injustice. For some people, too much regulation or too much tax is an injustice. For some people, our FPTP electoral system is an injustice; and clearly not all of those (alleged) injustices are things that self-identified 'woke' campaigners tend to talk about.

No, the term, woke (and I'm trying to say this in as balanced way as I can) implies a particular focus uniquely on certain (alleged) injustices, generally those injustices that pertain to poorer outcomes in life by some minority groups, and also a very particular viewpoint about what the causes of those injustices are and what the remedies should be. A viewpoint that is not shared by everybody.

 

[westv]

Barack Obama can assist with your question.

Barack Obama challenges 'woke' culture

The former US president says being judgemental does nothing to bring about change.

www.bbc.co.uk

Former US President Barack Obama has challenged "woke" culture telling young people: "The world is messy."
He made the comments at the Obama Foundation's annual summit in Chicago on Tuesday.
Mr Obama said that calling people out on social media did not bring about change, and that change was complex.
"Woke" is described as being alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice, along with being aware of what's going on in the community.
Mr Obama told the audience: "I get a sense among certain young people on social media that the way of making change is to be as judgemental as possible about other people.
"If I tweet or hashtag about how you didn't do something right or used the wrong verb, then I can sit back and feel pretty good about myself because 'Man did you see how woke I was? I called you out!'"

 

[MotCO]

No, the term, woke (and I'm trying to say this in as balanced way as I can) implies a particular focus uniquely on certain (alleged) injustices, generally those injustices that pertain to poorer outcomes in life by some minority groups, and also a very particular viewpoint about what the causes of those injustices are and what the remedies should be. A viewpoint that is not shared by everybody.

I think that this chimes with my views on its meaning, with a slight nuance on that the 'certain (alleged) injustices' may only be perceived to be such injustices by those who feel that they represent the views of the 'oppressed'*. In reality, the 'oppressed'* may not feel there is an injustice.

* I'm using the word 'oppressed' in a loose sense since I couldn't think of a better word. I'm trying to describe those at the receiving end of the alleged injustice.

 

[yorkie]

Barack Obama can assist with your question.

Barack Obama challenges 'woke' culture

The former US president says being judgemental does nothing to bring about change.

www.bbc.co.uk

Obama is absolutely spot on.

it is a word that now means nothing ( if it ever meant anything) other than to be used by silly, frightened, generally older, right wing crack pots to try and discredit change (or even the potential of change) in society they don't understand or like.

It is so boring. It just makes the user look silly. Same as snowflake. They are terms used by right wing media and social media influencers to generate a negative response to a small issue by people who seem to be very easily "triggered".

What word would(s) you approve of being used to describe people involved in the LNER announcement fiasco?

 

[DarloRich]

What word would(s) you approve of being used to describe people involved in the LNER announcement fiasco?

I don't really care. You seem to have a bee in your bonnet about this kind of thing.

 

[yorkie]

I don't really care.

As long as the word isn't "woke"?

Problem is the cat is out the bag; language is evolving and there isn't much we can do to stop a term being used for a particular purpose, no matter how much we may want to. Unless another word comes along to describe it, I think the term may be here for the longer term.

You seem to have a bee in your bonnet about this kind of thing.

The disgraceful behaviour towards the LNER Guard that occurred on that occasion widely considered to be unacceptable by most reasonable people; it is not me who has a bee in their bonnet.