Four out of five Americans don't use woke terms to communicate

A new YouGov survey revealed that most Americans do not use woke terms to communicate and are not attuned to them. The survey, conducted from Nov. 13-15 among 1,194 adults, shows that terms such as "white privilege" and "non-binary gender" have been heard and rejected by many, while they are only used by few.

Among the 30 terms included in the survey, Americans are most likely to say they use regularly:

- Woke: 19% use it - 54% know what it is and don't use it.

- Lived experience: 16% use it- 42% know what it is and don't use it.

- White privilege: 15% use it - 64% know what it is and don't use it.

-Body positivity: 15% use it - 50% know what it is and don't use it.

- Patriarchy: 13% use it - 53% know what it is and don't use it.

The poll noted, "Fewer than 15% of Americans say they frequently use each of the other 25 terms asked about."

One of the most popular terms is "safe space," and this is employed by only 20% of respondents (most said they had heard of it, but don't use it often). Words like "Latinx" have even less presence barely 5% use it (this term is rejected even by Latino Democrats such as Senator Ruben Gallego, who says it is irrelevant to the communities he is trying to represent, noted David Weigel in Semafor).

Like Senator Gallego, there are many Latinos who feel the same way. Taylor Orth, director of polling data journalism at YouGov, noted that use of this terminology is low even among Democratic voters and progressive groups: "Few Americans say they regularly use social-justice-oriented language."

Only 15% of black people use the term 'antiracism'

The study reflects how progressive language is rejected by the population. Only 15% of black adults said they use "antiracism." Also, a majority of adults said they had never heard of "BIPOC," a term meaning "black, Indigenous, people of color."

The voting population was unaffected by the term, with a split electorate. Nineteen percent identify as "woke" and another 19% as "anti-woke," but the majority simply does not feel represented by this debate.

"Regular use of social-justice-oriented language is more common among Democrats than among Republicans. But that doesn't mean that most Democrats regularly use any of the terms. None of the 30 terms included in the survey are frequently used by even one-third of Democrats. The largest shares of Democrats — 26% — say they regularly use the terms safe space or white privilege," the report notes.