Woke sometimes takes a superlative form, wokest, which emphasizes the extent of someone`s awakening or waking state. Emanuel remembers reading to his children and falling asleep before them, only to be woken up by a phone call late at night. But what does it mean to “wake up”? Here`s everything you need to know. Opponents of progressive social movements often use the term with derision or sarcasm,[2][47] implying that “wokeness” is a dishonest form of performative activism. [45] [2] These critics often believe that movements like Black Lives Matter exaggerate the magnitude of social problems. [47] Linguist and social critic John McWhorter argues that the history of woke resembles that of political correctness, another term once used self-descriptively by the left and appropriated by the right as an insult, in a process similar to the treadmill of euphemism. [48] “Woken. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woken. Retrieved 9 December 2022. In some varieties of African-American English, woke is used instead of woken, the common form of the past participle of wake. [4] This led to the use of woke as an equivalent adjective of wach, which became common in the United States.
[4] [5] “Staying awake” can express the continuous and habitual reinforced grammatical aspect of African-American vernacular English (which works as usual) of being essentially always awake or always alert. [6] This is the moment when we are awakened by a murmur or explosion in our daily lives, both of which ask “Why?” Nowadays, awakening refers to being aware or well-informed in a political or cultural sense, especially when it comes to issues related to marginalized communities – it describes someone who has “woken up” to issues of social injustice. She was the Sleeping Beauty in the forest who woke up and remembered nothing and could never recover from the long trance. As he lay down, he again heard the sound that had woken him up – the trotting of several horses and the voices of men passing by the house. This content is not intended to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary intended to provide additional information and context that is important to know or note the history, meaning and use of the term. It`s about being aware of the rot that permeates power structures. [28] Sociologist Marcyliena Morgan contrasts Woke with coldness in the context of preserving dignity in the face of social injustice: “While freshness is devoid of meaning and interpretation and shows no particular awareness, Woke is explicit and direct in relation to injustice, racism, sexism, etc.”[29] The French of the Renaissance suddenly woke up, But when they started, they recognized the face and hand of the awakener.
Britannica English: Translation of woken for Arabic speakers The term woke has gained popularity within the American left in the face of a growing shift to the left on various issues; This was partly a reaction to American right-wing politics. President Donald Trump, elected in 2016, but also a growing awareness of the extent of historical discrimination against African Americans.