Words and meanings: Woke

[methodius]

Someone I follow on Twitter recently posted:
If your argument against something is that it is "woke" I will assume that you are so ignorant you cannot create a cogent argument and I shall feel no obligation to respond to your "claim".
I first heard people using "woke" as an adjective or a noun about 6-7 years ago, and so I looked it up. It was US

Comments

[linnapaw]

It's interesting how language picks up nuance as well. Not to stir the pot here, but Merriam-Webster has also recently shown a tendency to go "woke". :p Sorry.

I agree with your discussion of the word, and as an adjective, it comes from having been "awakened", eyes to see, and the like. Certainly, in principle, not a bad thing.

The confusing nuance, I suppose, comes from the range of issues one is supposed to believe in to be sufficiently "woke". Gay marriage, transgender "rights", unlimited abortion, etc, etc. Once upon a time, businesses tended to stay out of the political fray, afraid of chasing off customers. However, many have felt a need to show themselves as sufficiently "woke" so that they don't come off as "haters" and find themselves the subject of ginned-up hate. That being said, when "woke" is being used pejoratively, it's often in pointing out the thin veneer and hypocrisy of someone or something who tries to pass themselves off as "woke". Furthermore, there's the little phrase being used by some "get woke, go broke" which refers mainly to businesses which tried to show off how "woke" they were and ended up losing all sorts of business - sometimes to the point of having to shut down - because the people whom they offended by their "wokeness" chose to do business somewhere else.

"Based" is often the anti-woke, but generally good, rational, or even wholesome.

Internet speak is weird.