Written by Robert Kovacs
Introduction: Defining "Woke"
When slang words get universally adopted, there can be some disagreement on the use of the term.
Some have used the word “woke” as a weapon against anybody who fights for a social issue.
Source: Open Domain
Fighting for social issues, change, and improvement is important. Taking into account the reality of any situation, and creating or advocating for policies that promote better lives is a noble and important undertaking.
But this is not the definition of “woke”. So let’s clear it up.
Merriam Webster is a fine dictionary for the most part. I find its definitions and examples to be clearer than the New Oxford American dictionary which Google uses.
But when it comes to slang terms, I have a preference for the Urban Dictionary, which crowdsources definitions which are then upvoted or downvoted. It gives a more organic feel for how the word has been used.
The top 3 definitions of woke according to the Urban Dictionary are:
1. The act of being very pretentious about how much you care about a social issue.
2. Deluded or fake awareness.
3. Being "Woke" is what happens when instead of taking one blue pill, you down the entire bottle.
The third definition I like a lot, for its reference to the Matrix. If you need a refresher, in the film Morpheus gives Neo a choice between a blue pill and a red pill: “You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe”.
It suggests taking the easy way out, choosing blissful ignorance over the harsh reality in which we live.
The harsh reality of Tobacco.
Here is a harsh reality:
Smoking kills. Yet despite government campaigns and taxes, there still is
