'Woke' Is Now Part of the World's Definitive English Dictionary

By Anne Branigin  |  June 27, 2017 | 5:04pm
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I’ve got some bad news for the hordes who flood the comment section whenever the word “woke” appears (as it does here, and here, and yup, here too.)

“Woke” is now an official part of the world’s most definitive English dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary, which means it’s been accepted as an official English word by the highest linguistic authorities.

The OED added an additional entry to its current definition for the word “woke” which addresses its social justice connotations.

As the BBC reports, the new entry now reads:

By the mid-20th century, woke had been extended figuratively to refer to being ‘aware’ or ‘well informed’ in a political or cultural sense.

“Post-truth,” which was Oxford’s “word of the year” for 2016 is another recent addition.

So there you have it. Stay woke, kids.

 
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