'Woke' and 'post-truth' added to Oxford English Dictionary
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A generic picture of an English dictionary and a thesaurus. OFFPO REUTERS/Catherine Benson CRB - RTRMC69
Oxford English Dictionary delved into the political.
The dictionary added the words “woke” and “post-truth” to its 2017 update.
The term "post-truth" is linked to the 2016 presidential election (Reuters)
The words are particularly linked to the 2016 presidential election and issues on race and police shootings.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“The original meaning of adjectival ‘woke’ (and earlier ‘woke up’) was simply ‘awake,’ but by the mid-20th century, woke had been extended figuratively to refer to being ‘aware’ or ‘well informed’ in a political or cultural sense.” the OED New words notes on June 2017 said.
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The dictionary defines “woke” as “well-informed.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Now chiefly: Alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice; frequently in stay woke (often used as an exhortation),” the dictionary said.
Activists attend a Black Lives Matter protest against U.S. President Donald Trump and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Darren Ornitz - RTX33OOR
The use of ‘woke’ was more recently embraced by the Black Lives Matter movement, especially on social media, Time reported.
The 2016 word of the year, “post-truth,” was also entered in the update of the dictionary.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Evidences an emerging use of ‘post’ prefix forming words denoting that a specified concept has become unimportant or irrelevant,” the dictionary said.
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The dictionary said “post-truth” denotes “circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping political debate or public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In addition to those two words, the word “thing” was given a new meaning as “a genuine or established phenomenon or practice.”
The Oxford English Dictionary publishes quarterly updates, with the next one in September 2017, BBC reported.