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Words and phrases recently introduced into the English language.

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Gloster

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Lots of intolerance of any opposing views on this forum, it would seem!

Presumably the two of you fully approve of the hounding of JK Rowling for her views, as that's a fine example of the way the woke behave towards people they don't agree with.

As far as that is concerned, my attitude is that anybody who behaves like that is not ‘woke’: they are just ... (insert your own description, such as ‘nasty bits of work’). However, it is convenient to label such people, and then all others who hold vaguely similar views, even if in a moderate and reasonably way (i.e. they strongly disagree with her, but have no intention of threatening or taking any other action against her: they accept that she is entitled to her opinions). Having labelled the small minority of extremists as woke, they then transfer the description across to all others they dislike and accuse them of all being the same as the extremists. Or, to put it simply, if you are woke you are not going to indulge in such behaviour and if you indulge in such behaviour, you ain’t woke.
 
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43301

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I don't agree with or find value in sweeping generalisations from any side, yours being the latest example.

Re. Rowling, she's made some pretty daft comments though she's not reached the bottom of the barrel of those specific arguments made by the likes of Graham Linehan. The police gave him a warning for harassment. No-one should be hounding or harassing anyone.


Post deleted as moderators are deleting parts of posts, making debate pointless.
 
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nlogax

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So far as I recall Linehan got into a spat with someone on twitter, and the police over-reacted. As they tend to with these sorts of issues.
Then you may want to investigate how unpleasant that whole escapade has become. Though tbf this thread isn't the place for it.
 

jfollows

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So, as regards "leverage", not then a word recently introduced to the English language?

More a newer meaning for an existing word, perhaps?
The "leverage" in terms of business and debt is a noun whereas the one I'm unhappy about is a transitive verb, so it's the same word in the sense of being the same sequence of letters, but .....
 

gmaguire

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“Woke” was originally used by right wingers. I think it means something like your eyes are open to the real way of the world, as in you’ve woken up to reality.
 

AlterEgo

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“Woke” was originally used by right wingers. I think it means something like your eyes are open to the real way of the world, as in you’ve woken up to reality.
Woke was originally a self-identifying term used by black activists in the USA, and then appropriated by white left wing activists, before being appropriated against by right wingers.
 

TwoYellas

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Has it ever occurred to you that you are demonstrating exactly the sort of hostile approach which you are criticising, just from the opposite direction?
With all due respect I was just answering the op. Admittedly I haven't researched the groups who use the term in great depth, but I can post what I have observed.

And what I have observed is that it's the right wing gutter press that often use the term. As well as small minded individuals.

I can assure you I do not have a 'hostile' approach as you accuse me of; acerbic yes, but not hostile and I attempt to be as fair as possible and treat all human beans equally with respect.

Presumably the two of you fully approve of the hounding of JK Rowling for her views, as that's a fine example of the way the woke behave towards people they don't agree with.

I do not fully approve of the hounding of anyone, 'the woke' is a puerile term, a catch-all. For example, it's used by people who want to boo football players taking the knee because they're sick of racism in stadiums and (more often these days) online. Because they make a stand and say 'enough is enough' the ignorant scream 'woke'. These types will also accuse BLM of being 'Marxist' another similar term used in the same way as 'woke'. I very much doubt those that use these terms even know the meaning. They just don't like anyone standing up for themselves.

People who most often use the term have no answers, no positive constructive solutions. Just slandering and sneering. They do not even attempt to research the issues.

I like people who stick up for the little guy not those that join the baying mob. Just look at those that constantly use the term - the hard right. Of course sometimes social and racial justice does go too far and that does need to be corrected. The tabloids then completely blow this out of all proportion and those that want to fortify their ignorant worldview will say something like "it's gone too far - we are accommodating them, we are paying for them." And so on and so forth.

It basically a derogatory term used to describe anyone who strives for racial or social justice. Just look at the publications that constantly use the term 'woke' and it proves my point.

The so called 'woke' issues should be looked at fairly and sensibly without the tabloid fanfare and exaggeration. Then I make an informed opinion on those various issues. So it helps to filter out the 'woke' term users to come to sensible conclusions.
 

Ashley Hill

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Not new words but one word and one phrase that has seen a rise in usage in recent times.
Robust. From having a robust system to a robust conversation. The word has been bandied around by MPs and management like it’s the word of the year!
Not fit for purpose is a phrase that’s crept in to describe something that’s out of date or poor design. Whist it’s use is correct I doubt you would have heard it used much 10 yrs ago.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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Not new words but one word and one phrase that has seen a rise in usage in recent times.
Robust. From having a robust system to a robust conversation. The word has been bandied around by MPs and management like it’s the word of the year!
Not fit for purpose is a phrase that’s crept in to describe something that’s out of date or poor design. Whist it’s use is correct I doubt you would have heard it used much 10 yrs ago.
I remember a colleague once saying "That's a robust turn of phrase" when someone in a meeting criticised him rather strongly.
 

AndrewE

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Nope. 'Gotten' is old and long-discarded British English that's returned via American usage. Embrace your heritage ;)

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Interestingly, at my junior school in the 1950s the use of "got" was severely criticised. They claimed that almost every use in conjunction with another word either could be replaced by a single word with the same meaning, or was just sloppy! I will still say "We got wet, or cold" though!
 

DynamicSpirit

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It seems to be unclear exactly what woke means. On-line dictionaries seem to give it the meaning of ‘aware of injustices in society, particularly racism’, but they are still a bit vague. I can’t think of a single word that it effectively replaces, as all that come to mind have either senses that are either sufficiently different or too vague.

It seems to me pretty clear that, in common usage today, 'woke' means something like, 'agreeing with identity politics, believing that the country is institutionally racist and that minority groups are suppressed - and therefore probably agreeing with the BLM movement, wanting to 'decolonise' things, believing that trans women are women, etc.

In other words, it's not merely being 'aware of injustices in society', but taking a particular interpretation of those injustices and of the required remedies. I rather agree with @43301 that the dictionaries are out of date and haven't caught up with modern usage.

However, plenty of people are using it in the sense of ‘hold views that I, in my privileged and comfortable position, despise because they might threaten my situation’. It is clear that a number (mainly) on the right are bandying it about as an insult and just including almost everyone who tries to stick up for the those who need sticking up for.

That's a pretty one-sided take on it and quite a misrepresentation of the views of many on the right. And it doesn't match with my memory: As I recall, the word 'woke' first came to prominence because of people who support BLM/'trans rights'/etc. using it to self-describe their own views. I would give you however that since then, it's become used more by people who disagree with those views.
 

johnnychips

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‘Good Job!’ to mean ‘Well done!’ rather than a fortunate or pleasing outcome. ‘It’s a good job you bought a fan, what with the weather forecast’.
 

DynamicSpirit

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See also the term “death threat”, which has crept from meaning “someone is directly threatening to kill me” to “someone says they hope I get cancer or walk under a bus”.

In a similar vein: 'traumatized', which used to mean something like, the state you'd be in if you'd just seen a close relative get murdered, or something comparable. These days it seems to be more like, 'I'm traumatized because my Oyster card didn't work on the bus / someone shouted at me / I got overcharged in the supermarket / etc.'
 

TwoYellas

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The expression 'it is what it is' I find irritating. I mean what the the hell else would it be other than what it actually is!
 

simonw

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Not new words but one word and one phrase that has seen a rise in usage in recent times.
Robust. From having a robust system to a robust conversation. The word has been bandied around by MPs and management like it’s the word of the year!
Not fit for purpose is a phrase that’s crept in to describe something that’s out of date or poor design. Whist it’s use is correct I doubt you would have heard it used much 10 yrs ago.
Not fit for purpose has been in common usage for more than the past 10 years
 

simonw

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The expression 'it is what it is' I find irritating. I mean what the the hell else would it be other than what it actually is!
The expression is used when people keep going over old ground. E.g. If we hadn't turned left when I said turn right we wouldn't have run out of fuel. Ie ok shut up and let's try and sort out the mess rather than apportion blame.
 

SynthD

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I think you have to be closer to the coal face of new culture to find actually new words and terms.
 

TwoYellas

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The expression is used when people keep going over old ground. E.g. If we hadn't turned left when I said turn right we wouldn't have run out of fuel. Ie ok shut up and let's try and sort out the mess rather than apportion blame.
Oh right, I see the kind of context of it now. Oh well - hey ho!

I've just accidentally used another term which I can't stand. :'(
 
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