In today’s conservative political climate, there is not a single word thrown around more than “woke.” While most party members take no issue with the word, some — including Donald Trump — don’t seem to care for it.

“I don’t like the term woke. Woke, woke, woke. It’s just a term they use, half the people can’t define it, they don’t know what it is,” Trump said during a conservative breakfast event in Iowa last summer.

Although Trump has since contradicted himself countless times by using this word to define Disney, the U.S. military, the NBA and political opponents, he is right about one thing: 

Nobody knows what this word means anymore. 

Definitions of the term differ greatly, according to a poll by USA Today and Ipsos. 56% of Americans polled consider wokeness to mean you are educated on social issues, while 40% believe it means unnecessary political correctness.

Unsurprisingly, 78% of the former identify as Democrats and 56% of the latter identify as Republicans. 

Despite its original meaning, which has been heavily misconstrued over time, many Americans believe the word can be applied anywhere they see fit.

Many see it as an aggressive political agenda attempting to make them feel guilty for being white. Others see it as the indoctrination of their young children in the classroom. In the entertainment industry, the word primarily acts as “old reliable” for viewers lacking the ability to articulate their displeasure with a film or television show. 

To Matt Cikovic, teaching assistant professor of visual and multimedia journalism, usage of this word in entertainment often reflects a restorative nostalgic bias.

“There are also people who have nostalgic ideas about their entertainment,” Cikovic said. “Anything that challenges it, they will immediately say, ‘That is different, it is not what I grew up with.’” 

People have been doing this for decades. Those who feel this way about entertainment tend to let this nostalgia cloud their judgment of social and political issues. There is a reason why Bob Dylan’s 1964 hit “The Times They Are a-Changin” still resonates — it calls out people who think like this. 

Nowadays, these feelings manifest through terms like “woke mind virus,” “woke mob” and “woke legislature.” These terms are thrown around by politicians, online influencers and white suburban dads almost every day. 

The problem is not that parents take issue with the content schools teach their kids or filmgoers dislike a movie because of the message it preaches. Freedom to debate societal and cultural issues is and must continue to be an essential right. 

The problem is in the language they use. 

By using words like woke as an umbrella term to describe different social, cultural and political dynamics, you are throwing all opportunities for nuance out the window.

Identifying someone as woke effectively assigns them a badge. Since black-and-white thinking has corrupted our discussions, if you meet the extremely vague requirements for this badge, your viewpoint is incorrect and threatens all that is good in the world. 

People who carelessly throw this term around act as if they are brave heroes defending their kingdom from this “threat.” But ask them to define this threat or their kingdom, and you will get completely different answers.

In his lesser-known essay “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell further explains why this is a problem. 

Orwell wrote that politicians can easily obscure truth, manipulate emotion and public opinion, and undermine opponents’ ability to address their words through the use of vague and misleading language. To Orwell, foolish thoughts are made easier by “the slovenliness of our language.” 

Blaming the politicians is an easy explanation for this slovenliness present in our discourse. 

Mason Epeneter, chairman of Minnesota College Republicans, said Ron DeSantis is a marketing genius for his weaponization of the term woke. 

“People react strongly to it, whether you agree with it or not,” Epeneter said. 

Because of the reactions it elicits from the average political stooge, there is no reason to stop using it. The responsibility ultimately falls on the people to stop letting this word infect our discourse. 

Unfortunately, everyone is failing tremendously and has been for a while now. Terms like “bleeding heart,” “PC” and “hippie” have been around forever. Woke has only been the next evolution of this trend and, like the other terms, will eventually be replaced by something else.

It is hard not to believe our discourse has reached a point of no return, but that does not mean we should accept it. 

“If one gets rid of these habits, one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step toward political regeneration,” Orwell wrote.

The dynamics surrounding the word woke are prevalent on both sides of the spectrum, just with different words. The same people who might admonish the usage of the word woke will not hesitate to label someone a sexist, racist, fascist or even Nazi. 

This deliberate lack of specificity is disingenuous on both sides and only serves to vilify likely well-meaning people. 

If thoughtful political, social and cultural dialogue is what you desire, then I implore you to think twice before using woke or any similar terms.