What is "woo"
AspenDan
Posts: 703 Member
Clearly I'm not that MFP savy..explanation??
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It's generally used to describe claims with no foundation in science.0
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Diet pills, herbal cleanses, wraps. All the things people tell you will drop the weight quick.0
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Pseudoscience and flimflam, often rooted in wishful and magical thinking.
Usually espoused by those hostile or indifferent to science, reality, logic, and facts. And/or by those out to swindle people who are hostile or indifferent to science, reality, logic, and facts.0 -
Anything in the "Diet" world. Like Raspberry Ketones, That G word, cleanse, Shakeology, etc. Something someone tells you that you need to make money. I'm a big hater of the WOO. I'm that person that succeeded at weight loss without the WOO. If I can do it, everyone can.0
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Any of the following in relation to weight loss/fitness advice:
Malarkey
Codswallop
Balderdash
Nonsense0 -
"Woo", "derp" and "broscience" are terms that some people use to say that they believe others to be wrong. They base this on their idea of "science", sometimes correctly, sometimes not.0
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"Woo", "derp" and "broscience" are terms that some people use to say that they believe others to be wrong. They base this on their idea of "science", sometimes correctly, sometimes not.
Obviously, different people have different definitions. Some not as relativistic as others.
A more thorough and appropriate explanation/definition from another thread:Woo is a term used among skeptical writers to describe pseudoscientific explanations that have certain common characteristics.
The term comes from woo-woo, an epithet used in the 1990s by science and skeptical writers to ridicule people who believe or promote such things. This is in turn believed to have come from the onomatopoeia "woooooo!" as a reaction to dimmed lights or magic tricks. The term implies a lack of either intelligence or sincerity on the part of the person or concepts so described.
As a coincidence, the Chinese word "Wū" (巫) means a shaman, usually with magic powers.0 -
I didn't have anyone in mind. I'm not even sure who all uses the words. I was answering the question. I'd never heard "derp" or "broscience" before I was on MFP and had to ask, myself.
I don't use the words, myself, but it's nice to know what other people mean.
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I didn't have anyone in mind. I'm not even sure who all uses the words. I was answering the question. I'd never heard "derp" or "broscience" before I was on MFP and had to ask, myself.
You don't know who uses the words, but you're comfortable making statements about why they're using them and whether or not their usage is correct?0 -
I have heard that the usage comes from 'wu' the Taoist word for the eternal non-being...or the unknowable part of existence. On the internet it is generally derogatory for anything considered magical by science minded folks. ex. "that woo woo girl just tried to read my palm". I learned this in a shamanism course in college when we were learning about techno-pagans , I tried to find a source to add here to support what I'm saying but I'm not seeing much0
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I have a brony husband. Same thoughts here.
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Gotcha, thanks all!0
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Alternately, it's often seen in the company of "hoo".
I'll get my coat.0 -
Before I changed the channel (I was watching the previous show and didn't change fast enough before his whow started), Dr. Oz said he has a new way to cook rice so that it has only HALF THE CALORIES!
that's a solid example of woo.0 -
Before I changed the channel (I was watching the previous show and didn't change fast enough before his whow started), Dr. Oz said he has a new way to cook rice so that it has only HALF THE CALORIES!
that's a solid example of woo.
It's not woo to simply take half of the rice you cooked and throw it away...jeez0 -
'Woo' is stricter here than among the folks who study things, keep in mind. I got called out for 'woo' but it was about a heavily studied topic, and I made sure to say 'might' and 'may'. I don't mind being called out for it, btw. I like to read how the studies are going, so I'm not getting it from sources that I hate as well (reporting is so, so bad about studies).
Full disclosure: I found some great herbal aids for my GERD to go along with my Rx meds by trolling through the studies, and I've had herbs and minerals help with my glucose levels in the past until I got on Rx meds for that. I don't think it's fair to call it 'woo' if it's being taken seriously in the scientific community, although it certainly can't be called proven at that point. Most things have poor results after studies. So I'm half-woo, y'all
But I'm happy to explain my reasoning if it comes up. 0 -
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Basically anything "Dr" Oz promotes. What a blowhard.0
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