Woke: The True Meaning Of The Word Woke'

There’s always that one friend who has theories on any topic you could think of. Sometimes he says something that actually makes sense, something that is so nonsensical that it makes perfect sense at that moment he is “woke.” “Woke” used to be a meaningful word, it described celebrities who used their fame to highlight social issues. The people who work against the pipeline from poor schools to prison were “woke.” Then, the word began to lose its meaning quickly as more and more people used it to describe anything that was slightly clever and now it is used by any average Joe to refer to any random thought that required more than half a neuron create in their brain. According to Google, “woke” was the fifth most searched word in 2016, but what does it mean to be “woke?” (“Word Definitions”) According to Ben Zimmer of the New York Times, “woke” was popularized in 2008 with Erykah Badu's song “Master Teacher,” where the refrain is …show more content…
While it is sad to see a word that once called for action against racism become a symbol for faux intellectualism, it is amusing to see what it is used for. It can now be used to describe a person, place or thing. As the original meaning of “woke” died its new meaning thrived. It was used for anything and everything from conspiracy theories to odd food combinations. Some guy just repeated something he heard on the news, your friend discovered a way to get free food online? They must be truly woke. The word is used by everyone, it describes movies and music that deal with social issues. “Woke” can be used to describe anything due to its use and misuse on and off the web. It describes the congressman who calls for an end to racism; the man who put chips in his sandwich; and the man calling out our president for firing the director of the FBI while under investigation by the