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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To hate the term 'woke'

175 replies

crunchymint · 01/05/2018 21:08

Seriously annoying. Am I the only one who hates it?

OP posts:
Beamur · 02/05/2018 08:36

Interesting point about the roots of some of these words/abbreviations. I didn't know that - I doubt many people casually using them will know either. But then that's also true, is it not, of many other words and expressions we use in everyday language?

IAmMumWho · 02/05/2018 08:39

Only ever heard the word 'woke' when you use the saying I woke up.

RoadToRivendell · 02/05/2018 08:43

Ridiculous. I'm so glad I'm middle-aged.

DialMforMordor · 02/05/2018 08:47

it's like picking up a Now CD in Tesco and realising you don't recognise any of the tracks. And then wondering if they're still called 'tracks'. And then thinking, well, what teens buy CDs these days anyway, surely they're just streaming all this on that... Spotify, is it?

I don't mind language shift. It's a way for a generation to distinguish themselves from the one above/below and as long as I can understand it, I won't try to speak it - a tactic I find has also served me well with French over the years. As far as 'woke' goes, I think Saturday Night Live 'Levi's Woke jeans' says it best.

Singlenotsingle · 02/05/2018 08:48

It must be American. I haven't heard it being used here

MyotherUsernameisaPun · 02/05/2018 08:49

YABU. Slang is for teens, not MNers Grin

systemlakeland · 02/05/2018 08:51

I can't stand it, plus it signifies that the person saying it is a tedious online social justice warrior

This.

gussyfinknottle · 02/05/2018 08:55

I must be very old. Or I live a sheltered life. Or both. I have never heard this word used like this.
I'll watch out for it in case I need yet another opportunity to hoik me judgy pants up.

TamiTayorismyparentingguru · 02/05/2018 09:08

Interestingly I have only heard it used here - not in the US. We lived in Texas for a few years and regularly go back to visit and I have never heard any of my teenagers’ friends use “woke” in the US, but have heard it plenty here. (Worth saying too that my teen is mixed race, but all his friends here are white (he’s in a very white school), whereas in the States his friendship group is much more mixed and I’ve still not heard it used there.)

Most of these I really dislike - bae, my bad, shook, woke, triggered, legit etc. They are all terrible grammar apart from anything else!

Interesting that dead and lit are listed here. I have never heard them used in the ways mentioned above here in Scotland, but both are very common in NI where I grew up. “Dead on” being a real northern Irish phrase from decades past, and it morphed into things/people being “dead right”, “dead good” etc. “Keep er lit” is also a very common phrase around Belfast to mean keep the craic going.

Fabellini · 02/05/2018 09:10

Ach, just ignore. It’ll have fallen out of favour in a few months and you’ll be “lit” when it does. Grin

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 02/05/2018 09:20

I think dead meaning very is used in the north as well. “It’s been a long week, I’m dead tired” sounds quite normal to me.

SaltAndPeppaPig · 02/05/2018 09:34

I will take your "shook" and raise you a "shooketh" grrr...

Redcrayons · 02/05/2018 09:52

Hopping - Grin I think I’m going to be ‘shook’ about something at dinner tonight.

Lovenaptime · 02/05/2018 10:17

It is really disappointing to see such a disparaging post and subsequent comments on something most of you including the OP do not understand nor care to.

The term "woke" is a political term of African American origin. It refers to an awareness of issues concerning social justice and racial justice. It is derived from the African American Vernacular English expression "stay woke". AAVE being previously known as Ebonics.

If you had the time to make such a disparaging post you also had the time to google the word OP.

"One aforementioned SJW told me that it was racist to dislike the term but was unable to articulate why."

Well fortunately for you I am very happy to articulate the racial aspect to this conversation.

The ridiculing of the term "woke" (and few others by PPs) is part of a much larger debate, there is a LOT of stigma around the use of AAVE which is definitely steeped in classism and racism. A lot of people believe that anyone who uses AAVE is uneducated, ignorant and probably lower class. Stigmatising AAVE is just another way to perpetuate stereotypes about intelligence and wealth. As it is associated with black people and black people have historically been stereotyped as ignorant, uneducated and lower-class, too often many people hear AAVE and think 'haha let's have a good o'l laugh'.

These stereotypes are reinforced by a society which prioritises one set of language or dialect over another. Your lack of understanding regarding AAVE terms does not detract from the fact that it is a real social distinct dialect in English, with its own complexities, a rich history and huge cultural significance with its own grammatical rules. The stance that some kinds of languages are unacceptable and speakers of dialects speak rubbish has real life ramifications.

You are definitely being unreasonable OP.

The80sweregreat · 02/05/2018 10:25

I woke up. I wake up in the morning.

' can i get' instead of ' may i have' winds me up more, its just wrong.

Hoppinggreen · 02/05/2018 10:27

love when my white middle class teen uses it I’m pretty sure it’s ok to be disparaging about it

The80sweregreat · 02/05/2018 10:27

Read and Read is odd too, same spelling but different meanings depending on its context in the conversation or on the page and how its pronounced etc. English can be a bit bonkers.

Hoppinggreen · 02/05/2018 10:28

Agree *the 80s” when I hear that I want the server to reply
“ no, we aren’t a self service place but if you actually use your manners I might get it for you”!

The80sweregreat · 02/05/2018 10:30

To my shame, i heard my son say it once to a poor girl on the till. i made him say sorry and then ask her properly! he was mortified and she just smiled as if to say ' hear it all the time!'

beenandgoneandbackagain · 02/05/2018 10:36

Lovenaptime thank you taking the time to explain the origins (and someone else up thread did too?)

It's interesting that it has been hijacked by people who want to seem "right on" or whatever the phrase is these days, but isn't.

I was going to make a joke about being "woke to trans thanks to mumsnet" but I realise that would be offensive to some.

Thank you - I shall delete it from my vocabulary except in the sense of "I woke up this morning".

The80sweregreat · 02/05/2018 10:39

i hate the expression ' sick' to mean something is good. how is this even possible?

RoseWhiteTips · 02/05/2018 10:42

Sounds moronic. It does not pass my lips.

RoseWhiteTips · 02/05/2018 10:43

Re. the OP.

ShirleyValentineswall · 02/05/2018 10:44

Here's your Arseholes Anonymous @LoisWilkersonsLastNerve

To hate the term 'woke'
MissionItsPossible · 02/05/2018 11:28

I'm so woke I'm asleep.

The one I hate is 'feel some type of way'