Comment by kazinator

2 days ago

That can't be it. Cretin traces back to the 18th century. Etymonline places woke into the 2010s.

Doesn't matter when the word was created, in the same way furries use ":3" to signal they're a furry, people now use "woke" as a pejorative to signify that they're a member of the "alt-right". I'd suggest avoiding that word unless that's the group membership you want to be advertising.

  • That is false. Woke liberals and their insane ideas are widely despised by people from all over the political map. Paul Graham has observed that "wokeness is in retreat".

    https://paulgraham.com/woke.html

    Now, some alt right are acting like wokeness is not in retreat, and constitutes some kind of large and growing threat, so that aligning against it is a major priority.

    However, that doesn't mean everyone who uses the word is partaking in an alt right anti-woke frenzy.

    • Hey, I didn't say you were alt right, just that most people will assume you are if you use that word.

    • Oh my god who gives a fuck about what Paul Graham has to say about “woke”.

      Saying “woke” in any context to attack a particular idea or ideology makes you _sound_ like your engaging in American culture war bullshit.

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