To me......being called 'woke' is a compliment

Re ‘snowflake’
Its common usage predates ‘woke’.
I respect others understanding of the word, but for me I understood it to mean someone who lacks robustness and unable to debate anything.
Also ‘I’m so unique and special’; yes, we all are, petal 😉

I agree, Jane. This is particularly the case when rights (or wants) conflict, and people have to search their consciences to decide which is more important to them.

TerriBull, your post is very good. I think it is really important to remember that inclusiveness and acceptance shouldn't be at the detrement of other minority groups or causes. Sometimes being so open minded is actually very narrow minded.

Gagjo, I think for people in trauma caused by others, it is useful for them to understand why a person would behave in that way. I know for me, understanding what a sociopath is has helped me come to terms with my own trauma. It's not something I ever really mention to others in day to day life, so maybe people are just a bit more open online.

Sorry but I don't understand what you mean Mollygo

That’s OK VS.

Mollygo

Exactly VS!

That is why I. . .

Never waste my time trying to explain who I am ...
to people who are committed to misunderstanding me

. . . Never judge you - just let you demonstrate how your judgements make you appear, and understand if corrections are not quickly forthcoming.

Sorry but I don't understand what you mean Mollygo

Exactly VS!

That is why I. . .

Never waste my time trying to explain who I am ...
to people who are committed to misunderstanding me

. . . Never judge you - just let you demonstrate how your judgements make you appear, and understand if corrections are not quickly forthcoming.

Deedaa

I thought everybody knew Leadbelly, but I suppose I should revise that statement and say that everybody who was at art school and going to folk clubs in the 60s knew Leadbelly. My mother didn't think he was an acquired taste Dickens but she and my father had been art students in the 30s and their musical tastes were very much Blues and Jazz.

I t hink I've been woke for the last 60 years since reading the works of T H White as a teenager. I was very influenced by his ideas, particularly in regard to how we should treat others,

Thanks for reminding me Deedaa I was wondering how I knew about Leadbelly. My parents were Gilbert & Sullivan and musicals fans, so I knew it wasn't from them. But yes art college in the 60s when education was more than books and exams

Stupid italics

Now it doesn't look fancy

Here's a not poem that isn't by me

^People who are quick to judge...
are slow to correct themselves^

^Judging a person does not define who they are...
it defines who you are^

^Never waste your time trying to explain who you are...
to people who are committed to misunderstanding you^

Doodledog
Great piece of verse.👏👏👏

maddyone

Neither did I Callistemon. I thought it was supposed to be applied to people who are over entitled and unable to cope with difficult situations in life. And can’t take the rigours of life. So as an example, need to be warned about the content of novels written at a different time, such as Dickens novels which depict how hard life was in that time for the poor. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s what I thought.

Me too, Maddyone
We used to use the term wimp.

Not that it applies to anyone on here, I would have thought.

This has just reminded me. I wrote this little ditty a while ago in a creative writing class )

Snowflakes
Why do they think they’re so special?
They aren’t like us – they don’t see things through.
They’d be lost without Facebook or Twitter,
And if war came, who knows what they’d do?
Even their food’s self-indulgent,
Quinoa, and pies free of meat.
They wouldn’t survive in a crisis
They’d wither and melt in the heat.

But we are the way that you made us,
We unicorns, fairies and elves.
You went to great lengths to persuade us
To be different and think for ourselves.
But we also think of one another,
And argue for communal cases
We consider our sisters and brothers,
And create them non-threatening spaces.
So don’t underestimate snowflakes.
The question’s, not ‘if’, but it’s ‘whether
An avalanche, snowball or glacier
Is what we’ll be when we stick together’.

volver3

You know what happens when a lot of snowflakes get together?

An avalanche.

Here we come, take cover. 😉

I never took you for a snowflake, volver
😲

volver3

You know what happens when a lot of snowflakes get together?

An avalanche.

Here we come, take cover. 😉

Are you now claiming to be a snowflake V3?

volver3

You know what happens when a lot of snowflakes get together?

An avalanche.

Here we come, take cover. 😉

Lol!

Surely it is the implied meaning of the word, the intent that matters? I am happy to describe myself as 'woke' for example (not that I need to), but when the word is hurled around as an insult by Braverman, Badenoch, Patel etc it is meant to offend, to wound. On the other hand, I am delighted and proud to be the opposite of them when it comes to moral behaviour and beliefs. Oh, and I have been known to eat tofu.....

Neither did I Callistemon. I thought it was supposed to be applied to people who are over entitled and unable to cope with difficult situations in life. And can’t take the rigours of life. So as an example, need to be warned about the content of novels written at a different time, such as Dickens novels which depict how hard life was in that time for the poor. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s what I thought.

You know what happens when a lot of snowflakes get together?

An avalanche.

Here we come, take cover. 😉

VioletSky

callistemon

It's never really fit the left, we don't melt under the rights hot air

I didn't know that the term snowflake was meant to apply to people on the left.

🤔

Snowflake" is a derogatory slang term for a person, implying that they have an inflated sense of uniqueness, an unwarranted sense of entitlement, or are overly emotional, easily offended, and unable to deal with opposing opinions.

I don't see that use of 'snowflake' as being left/right. It does describe a particular type of person (ditto 'unicorn'), but as always, when these things catch on they start to lose meaning, as they are applied to swathes of people and are used very lazily.

callistemon

It's never really fit the left, we don't melt under the rights hot air

VioletSky

Oh, why that was ever applied to the left Mollygo is quite funny

Left "racism is bad"

Right "bleeding heart, snowflake, woke etc.

VS, I never used it, or was interested in it, so never associated it with either side.
Now I realise it’s an accurate description of some people.
Snowflake" is a derogatory slang term for a person, implying that they have an inflated sense of uniqueness, an unwarranted sense of entitlement, or are overly emotional, easily offended, and unable to deal with opposing opinions.

VioletSky

I've always liked "snowflakes" too, highly individual and beautiful, how it was ever an insult is beyond me

Another appropriation of a word!

Annoying, isn't it.

Very good post TerriBull at 9.36.

I promise
To do my best, to my duty
To God and the Queen (King)
To help other people every day
Especially those at home.

How many of us made that promise many, many years ago? It’s the Brownie promise. I was seven years old when I made it, and mostly it’s long forgotten. But how lovely if everyone lived by that simple, childlike promise, those simple words. You don’t need to be a believer in God or a royalist to help other people every day. You just need to respect others, help if you can, do what you can. It’s pointless to observe events on the news and say how sad it all is, and how much you sympathise/empathise and then go and make a cup of tea and move on to the next thing. Obviously most of us are older and can’t take off to Sudan or Afghanistan (neither would be advisable anyway) but if we do what we can, accept it’s probably limited, and live our lives. Our best lives, to use another modern phrase that’s come from America as far as I know.