Being "woke"

What is marvellous about languaje is that is renewed and reinvented constantly with new words and meanings. 

Nowadays we can often listen to the word WOKE used by politicians, journalist and social networks. 

We all know that it is the past tense of wake= despertar, but it is being used in a different way, it is used as an adjective meaning " despierto, concienciado", the correct word would be "awake" in this sense and it has led to other new words such as "wokeness" (a noun meaning being woke or belonging to this movement) instead of "awakening".

It has good but also a bad meaning at present. But let's make some history. 

The Oxford dictionary defines it as follows:

It was used in this sense for the first time in USA by Afroamericans who wanted people to stand up, be conscious and wake up to the injustice they were suffering, the singer Lead Belly in 1938 used that term in his song " Scottboro Boys", he wanted his brothers to wake up and be alert to being accused of something they hadn't done.

Since that moment it became a symbol of social justice for black citizens and it increased with the movement "Black Lives Matter" in 2014, when the motto " stay woke" was used to rebel against police abuse to black people. 

In recent years it has spread to defend other rights such as women's rights o LGTBI rights and fight against any kind of discrimination, it has been associated to the left and progressive people. 

Conservative people consider them extreme left people who are fanatic, insincere and people who tend to censore anyone who doesn't think in the same way as they do. 

They are also considered to impose their ideas of social justice in films, books etc. (black characters or LGTBI people in traditional books ot films and series) they are thought to follow what is called Cancel Culture

Cancel culture is a cultural phenomenon in which someone suppected of having acted or spoken in an unacceptable manner is boycotted, fired or insulted specially in social media even when there is no proof of it. 

 

 

 

This movement has not only been criticised specially by Republicans such as Trump or Elon Musk, but also by democrats such as Obama when it becomes too extremist or too capitalised. 

Being woke is not so bad as it is meant to avoid discrimination, but we must be careful not to get in the same faults we are criticising. 

Some Underworld things

We are in a month of changing seasons, from summer to Autumn, when the frontier betweeen life and death is so weak, when the ones who died are closer to us, when Persephone returns to her husband Hades to the underworld, leaving her poor mother Demeter devastated. That's Halloween or Día de los Santos o los Muertos.

That's why I have decided that it could be interesting to see some videos about the underworld, witches etc to clarify some aspects of it. 

I hope you enjoy them and find inspiration for these days.

A Tour of the Ancient Greek Underworld by TED-Ed

The Sybil of Cumas guides Aquilles, recently dead in Troy, all along the Underworld

The myth of Hades and Persephone

Who are the God and Godess of the Underworld?, Why does plants and flowers die in Autumn and Winter ?

 

Witches have always been relevant characters all along this season, nowadays girls dress as witches just for fun in Halloween or fancy dress parties, but  we must remember that this wasn't that way in ancient times, women who were just healers or nurses were prosecuted, accused and killed for that reason. 

Here you can see one of the most famous or better said "infamous" witch trials in history  

Witches Trials in Salem ( Massachussets, USA) 

 

But it didn't only happened in USA, but all around Europe, even in Spain we have the famous Brujas de Zugarramurdi (Navarra) where they held a similar trial for suspected women. 

Witches and Covens from Zugarramurdi (Navarra, Spain)

I wish it gives us some foood for thought as it was only women the ones who mostly were suspected. women were thought to be impure and could be friends with the devil, they were "inferior" or "mentally weak". Those who  were more independent or showed more knowledge were suspected even till recent times.

LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS

We are close to February, which some people consider the love month because of Saint Valentine's Day. 

There are lots of expressions and idioms that are used to talk about love and relationships and new ones are created everyday. Most of them come from songs. Here you have some in case you want to use them with the person you love. 

LOVE EXPRESSIONS AND IDIOMS

• to have a soft spot for someone / to have a crush on someone = to be attracted to someone  
• to love somebody to death = to have a extremely strong affection for someone
• to fall/ be head over heels in love = to be completely in love with someone as Alanis Morrisey said in her song "Head over Feet"

•  to have the hots for…= to feel sexually attracted to someone
• to be the apple of your eye = to love someone deeply, this is what Stevie Wonder said to his daughter  in his famous song " You are the Sunshine of my Life" 

•  To be an item / a couple= to be in a romantic relationship with someone. 
• A match made in heaven = a very successful combination of two people or things
  

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  To act / to be lovey- dovey = when people show they love in public, kissing, touching each other or saying loving things, which could be a bit embarrasing sometimes, don't you think? 

 

• someone or something is out of someone's league = someone / something is too good or expensive for someone to have

• to pop the question = to ask someone to marry you

 What are the weirdest situations that you have seen in films or TV series when someone popped the question?

  

How would you like to be asked to get married?

 

 

 Listen to Bruno Mars in " Marrry me" and you'll get an idea.

• to  tie the knot / to get hitched = to get married

FRIENDSHIP AND RELATIONSHIPS

• Birds of feather flock together =   they have so much in common and they get along so well that it’s almost impossible to think of one without thinking of the other one. Like Annie, Brooke and Haydenin " Chicken Girls" 

•  A friend in need is a friend indeed =   You can use it both as a cry for help and as a way of saying “thank you” to someone who has stayed by your side through tough moments.
  

• to give someone the cold shoulder = to intentionally ignore someone or treat someone in an unfriendly way

• to be your ride or die =  To be very loyal to someone and to do whatever for someone you love.
  

like "Thelma and Louise"

    or such as " Bonnie and Clyde", where this expression comes from.

• to cross someone’s path = to come into contact with someone or something, often surprisingly or unexpectedly 

• to have friends in high places  to know important people who can help you get what you want

I hope you enjoy it as much as me writing this and now you can write at least five examples using them and leave them in comments.