Woke

Woke (adjective / modern slang & culture talk)

(Also heard as: Gone woke, Woke brigade, Stay woke)

Definition: Started out meaning clued-up on social stuff and inequality. Nowadays, it’s mostly hurled about as a dig at people, adverts, or shows trying way too hard to look politically correct or preachy.

Pronunciation: /wəʊk/

Where It Comes From: Black American community roots dating right back to the 1930s. Blues legend Lead Belly told folks to “stay woke” so they wouldn’t get caught out in dangerous, racist towns. It hit mainstream social media in the mid-2010s before tabloids and politicians snatched the word, weaponising it to poke fun at student protests, brand adverts, and anything deemed too PC.

How People Actually Use It: Heard all over pub tables, family dinners, and Twitter rows. Usually, it’s your uncle grumbling that the BBC or a bank advert has “gone woke,” or mates using it sarcastically when a TV show rewrites a classic character just to tick a box.

Examples in the Wild:

• “Old Dave thinks changing the crisp flavours is part of some woke agenda.”

  Translation: Dave thinks even the simplest modern changes are overly political.

• “Don’t mention the council’s new bin scheme, he’ll start ranting about the woke brigade.”

  Translation: Avoid that topic or he will start complaining about overzealous rules.

• “That new sitcom tried too hard to tick every single box; felt pure woke and zero laughs.”

  Translation: The show focused so much on preaching that it forgot to be funny.

Similar Slang: PC, Virtue-signalling, Preachy, Clued-up, Do-gooder, Box-ticking