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News Martin-Green: Star Trek Is About Universality

I'm really confused here. Are you using John Logan as proof that fans are better writers or are you using Ron Moore as proof that they aren't? Because neither possibility makes any sense.

In any case, the point is not that fans can't write, its that fandom is completely irrelevant. There are just as many great stories from non-fans as there are from fans.

I deliberately chose two marmite fan writers.
 
Even if Woke was created with some deeper meaning I think we all know the meaning is going to be erased like many of the new slogans that have been invented. I just recently as in 1 hour ago watched "Mr Robot" season 3 opening episode because I am jut now getting to the season. In his street rant one of things Elliot talks about is how their descent had been monoploized. Then you see things like the F-Society masks being sold in a store and NBC doing a show about it. "Woke" is just going to be another corporate slogan used to appeal to people. In fact I think it already started. I saw that photo about "Discovery" being the most woke Trek ever. So it's already gone from a word about people becoming aware of the problems of society to just another tv add.


Jason
It does make me wonder whether “woke” is age graded (that is, used by a particular group and they’ll eventually grow out of it - at least outside the BLM context in wider usage) and the use of it on the dvd screener was cbs desperate approach to “appeal to the young people” (cf “I speak baby” - 11th Doctor). I can but hope that when GenZ gets into their 30s they will abandon “woke” and it will become a slang word like “spiffing” or “wicked”. I really hope it doesn’t enter the wider more general lexicon (despite it having an entry in the OED). Language change may be a fact, but that don’t mean I gotta like it! A bit like the redesigns of the Klingons and the Enterprise (see what I did there! :guffaw: )
 
It does make me wonder whether “woke” is age graded (that is, used by a particular group and they’ll eventually grow out of it - at least outside the BLM context in wider usage) and the use of it on the dvd screener was cbs desperate approach to “appeal to the young people” (cf “I speak baby” - 11th Doctor). I can but hope that when GenZ gets into their 30s they will abandon “woke” and it will become a slang word like “spiffing” or “wicked”. I really hope it doesn’t enter the wider more general lexicon (despite it having an entry in the OED). Language change may be a fact, but that don’t mean I gotta like it! A bit like the redesigns of the Klingons and the Enterprise (see what I did there! :guffaw: )

I still use wicked.
To make things even more confusing, I sometimes use it in my native slang use, and some sometimes boston slang. ‘That scene was wicked’ ‘I have a wicked bad headache’.
Of course, these days, everyone just thinks I must always talking about musical theatre. But that’s the thing about these days. Musical theatre fans everywhere.
 
I saw that photo about "Discovery" being the most woke Trek ever. So it's already gone from a word about people becoming aware of the problems of society to just another tv add.
Yes but this is nothing new. For decades and decades, slang expressions have been co-opted by the mainstream "re-purposed", and sometimes redefined.

As an example, the expression, "uptight", was a word coined by whoever wrote the 1960's r & b tune of the same name. Per the song, it meant everything is great, everything is wonderful. The mainstream got hold of the expression and changed the meaning to "nervous", "tense". That is currently in the dictionary as the definition.

So, "woke" being appropriated by the mainstream is to be expected. The only question is, how much life it'll have and if the meaning will "evolve".
It does make me wonder whether “woke” is age graded (that is, used by a particular group and they’ll eventually grow out of it - at least outside the BLM context in wider usage) and the use of it on the dvd screener was cbs desperate approach to “appeal to the young people” (cf “I speak baby” - 11th Doctor). I can but hope that when GenZ gets into their 30s they will abandon “woke” and it will become a slang word like “spiffing” or “wicked”. I really hope it doesn’t enter the wider more general lexicon (despite it having an entry in the OED). Language change may be a fact, but that don’t mean I gotta like it!
Then, as the years go by, you should be prepared for more and more puzzled expressions on the faces of any young people in the presence of whom, you use your "comfortable" slang.

I actually might have some experience in this area. :)
 
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Then, as the years go by, you should be prepared for more and more puzzled expressions on the faces of any young people in the presence of whom, you use your "comfortable" slang
I find that often happens when I’m teaching my undergrads. It’s not just the slang... I provide pop culture references that are hilariously out of date now as well lol! I may have to investigate their awareness of “woke” next semester.

So, "woke" being appropriated by the mainstream is to be expected. The only question is, how much life it'll have and if the meaning will "evolve".
I’d be interested to see the extent to which “woke” is in the mainstream consciousness. Someone should do a study (I sound like Dr Bashir. Awesome) :)
 
It's the salt. English marmite is crude. Add salt and you have Vegemite, add sugar and you have NZ marmite, add more sugar and you have Promite.
So the marmite is the buried personality beneath the vegemite? With the right phrase the vegemite could come out?

Who do we seek?
Promite!
Where do we seek him?

Discovery references... :guffaw:
 
Post a bunch of meaningful replies in other threads, then this one will end up on Page 2. "Out of sight! Out of mind!"
 
That and “would of” (although that’s been around since at least the 1980s and will likely become Standard English one day).

I’m trying to think of an appropriate synonym for “woke”. I think “progressive” or “enlightened” are the closest to the popular definition of “woke”, although I’d have to check Urban Dictionary.

Sorry that reply was way longer than it needed to be - I’m a linguistics nerd.
Hear, hear. I'm a grammar cop myself (by inclination, not profession), and I dearly hope that "would of" never, ever, ever becomes acceptable usage. All it does is substitute for a perfectly ordinary expression that already exists ("would have"), without adding any value, while subtracting grammatical coherence.

(Indeed, if that sort of thing is allowed with "of," pretty much any and all proper use of prepositions is doomed. As it is, half of my undergrads already have no clue how to use prepositions, and just treat them all interchangeably.)

As for "woke," I have no problem with its political implications at all (although as other posters have mentioned, they are at risk of getting co-opted). It's the bad grammar that drives me up a wall. A past-tense verb shouldn't just suddenly become an adjective.

I can but hope that when GenZ gets into their 30s they will abandon “woke” and it will become a slang word like “spiffing” or “wicked”.
I never minded "wicked" — it's an adjective being used as one, which seems fine. I must admit I've literally never encountered "spiffing," but a little Googling suggests that it's a British-ism, so perhaps that's why.

I find that often happens when I’m teaching my undergrads. It’s not just the slang... I provide pop culture references that are hilariously out of date now as well lol! I may have to investigate their awareness of “woke” next semester.
It's kind of paradoxical, IMHO. As we were discussing in the recent thread about the young couple who didn't know about Trek beyond VOY, literally all of pop culture of every vintage is out there these days, ready and waiting to be consumed, more easily accessible than in any previous generation. At the same time, though, it's surprisingly easy to take the path of least resistance, silo yourself off with stuff you know you already like (or that gets the most promotion), and ignore the rest.

Undergrads probably aren't the best barometer, though (thank goodness). When you're 18-20 you've only had a fairly limited time to experience stuff, even if you've made a serious effort to explore outside your comfort zone. (Probably not a lot of money to do it with either; you're barely at the cusp of marketers' main target age range, and don't have the same disposable income you will later.)
 
and I dearly hope that "would of" never, ever, ever becomes acceptable usage.
Me too. Although I find it interesting that it’s a reverse engineered pronunciation of unstressed have realised as ‘ve in rapid speech - because “of” can be pronounced in the same way with an unstressed vowel. The weirdest thing is when people say “would of” and they use the unstressed vowel in “of” (i.e. the same vowel as in “dog”...!). Assuming it does become standard English one day, that means Michael should say would of in DSC...

I've literally never encountered "spiffing," but a little Googling suggests that it's a British-ism
Yeah “spiffing” is ancient in British English too. It’s 1920s-1930s I think. But nowadays nobody would use it unless they were being ironic. But I think it does the original meaning of “woke” a disservice to be slapped onto DSC as though that makes it acceptable to everyone. It’s Star Trek. It’s woke by definition (the people making the show don’t seem to understand that fundamental truth).

When you're 18-20 you've only had a fairly limited time to experience stuff,
Oh I’m pretty sure I knew everything when I was 18...

:guffaw:
 
I've come to the conclusion that since the show takes place in not one, but two universes, it is indeed about universality.
 
I've come to the conclusion that since the show takes place in not one, but two universes, it is indeed about universality.
That also makes TNG the most universal show (TNG: "Parallels") and VGR the least universal show. DS9, ENT and DSC are in the middle somewhere.
 
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