What does 'woke' mean? - English Vocabulary Lesson

The word ‘woke’, when used as a political term, refers to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice and racial equality, according to Wikipedia’s entry on the subject. The article further reports that this use originated in the United States and derives from the African-American Vernacular English expression ‘stay woke’, the form of which conveys a continuing awareness of these issues. The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘woke’ as ‘alert to injustice in society, especially racism’. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines ‘woke’ as ‘aware, especially of social problems such as racism and inequality’. Over time, however, the meaning of ‘woke’ has shifted so that the word has come to suggest a sarcastic version of what it originally meant. Indeed, according to the Urban Dictionary, ‘woke’ means ‘the state of being pretentious about how much you care about a social issue’. Those who would broadly consider themselves ‘woke’ have been criticized for their sending of occasional Twitter tweets calling for social and racial justice but never making concrete efforts toward affecting lasting change. To summarise, some people say that being ‘woke’ indicates awareness of social issues, while others deploy the term as an insult.

[megametagross]

This guy literally asked me to find the definition of woke when I came here to know the definition of woke.

[TheBennik]

So another words, certain people are going to twist the definition in order to fit a narrative based on their political mind

[tomfuller]

I confess, I used to be woke. I was constantly getting triggered. I protested everything that offended me, and demanded it all be cancelled. Finally I grew out of it, and went to preschool.

[AdventuresOfKiri]

The first video that actually explains the meaning and misuse of the term. Thank you.

[ericmcdowell]

Used in a sentence: I woke one morning to the sound of birds chirping outside my window.

[svansy]

as a non-american, i tried using traditional methods of finding out what this word means - research (by googling). oh oh. that was a mistake 😬

[southlondonlad]

Fact, being a woke is not currently trendy now or anytime

[rajkoelguapo]

This is what it meant for a hot minute 8 yrs to update.

[ccarta]

Woke ..the act of not being asleep..or some variation of there of.. I love how the left or right find a word that triggers some intense emotional response..in this case it is the right associating the word woke with a racial component or maybe a criminal aspect.. I think in this case a racial aspect. . This and the mention of critical race theory gets alot of folks all riled up..hmmm..why?

[fxst]

Is it related to bad English like Ebonics that I could never understand .

[fahadalotaibi]

Could you please make lesson about differences between B and P ?
Because we mixed up the 2 in my country

[fahadalotaibi]

I did not know this information before .good information 👌

[witeskyn]

I STILL don't know what being 'WOKE' means.

I am woke by an Alarm Clock. (??)

I'm an old school sort that practices altruism and still holds doors open for other people.
I get angry. I get the giggles. I make my own choices but usually after seeking knowledge of
my options. I obey the law drive 63-65 mph in a 60...but have the sense to slow it down)
I keep to myself but, I have stepped in to defend people from being beaten down.
I have helped people from being killed because killing is wrong. I have paid for people's fuel because
they were stranded in the middle of nowhere without enough cash. Given people rides.
But, I admit that I am no Saint either.

It's just the simple things I was taught when I was a child.

No Hashtag needed. No title. Just (my name). No politcal agenda.

Is that wrong?

[scoobydoop]

"woke is a perceived awarenes of issues concerning social justice or equality" Wiki 🤣Various dictionaries have now updated this to include it's modern use:
Refers to a political group who share a certain ideology.

[rev.stephena.cakouros]

I us the term Woke as I use it is a reference to Social Justice Warriors affected by the Frankfurt School of Cultural Marxism, which is seeking to unnerve society; after which it will replace Capitalism with Communism.

[natelasvanidze]

I would like to think that I am woke because I am alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice.

[tjhagen]

The term "WOKE" originally was coined from the acronym: Willingly Overlooking Know Evil!

[jonnobloggs]

It has lost its original meaning and is now being used as a pejorative term / insult towards something the user of the word does not like or agree with .I feel I can now safely describe the ending to Season 6 of Lost as woke .

[sonicgen]

It’s a new slang word invented to make the person sound intelligent but just confuses the heck out of many of their viewers compelling them to go look up the definition and find that it’s all nonsense.

[davidpar]

Pretending that human discernment doesn’t exist.