Topic: McWords

Anonymous A started this discussion 9 years ago #62,644

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McWords

A McWord is a word containing the prefix Mc-, derived from the first syllable of the name of the McDonald's restaurant chain. Words of this nature are either official marketing terms of the chain (such as McNugget), or are neologisms designed to evoke pejorative associations with the restaurant chain or fast food in general, often for qualities of cheapness, inauthenticity, or the rapidity and ease of manufacture. They are also used in non-consumerism contexts as a pejorative for heavily commercialized or globalized things and concepts.

McWords include:

Many McDonald's products and branding concepts, including:
Mayor McCheese
McCafé
McDonaldland
McInternet – A free Wi-Fi service in some U.S. McDonald's restaurants. In Venezuela and Brazil,[1] it is an Internet cafe service offered in several McDonald's restaurants.
McState – The McDonald's job and career search service.
McWorld – The term was used in a mid-1990s McDonald's advertising campaign depicting a world ruled by children. It is also used in a critical way to emphasize the deprecation of local culture in favor of a global culture prescribed by large corporations.
McChurch – A megachurch.
McDonaldization – the process by which a society takes on the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant.
McDojo – A martial arts school (dojo) seen as sacrificing pedagogic principles in favor of offering rapid advancement through the various ranks, often requiring a fee to be paid to achieve a higher rank (often denoted by a colored belt, hence the use of another pejorative name, "belt factory", analogous to a degree mill).
McJob – A low-paying job in which one serves as an interchangeable cog in a corporate machine; originally appearing in an article in The Washington Post in 1986 and later popularised by Douglas Coupland's novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture.
McLibel case and McLibel (film)
McMansion – Quickly-built mansions; a group of large houses built in the same style in the same area.
McOndo – A Latin American literary movement. The name is a spoof on the fictional village of Macondo.
McPaper (or McNews) – A newspaper that is considered manufactured and "for the masses" because of its simplistic prose style and flashy use of colors. Typically used in reference to USA Today.[2]
McRefugee – people who stay overnight in a 24-hour McDonald's.[3]

brie !kGoudaMCFA joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 3 minutes later[^] [v] #787,333

McLol

Anonymous C joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 7 minutes later, 10 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #787,338

The bird is the McWord.

Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 19 seconds later, 11 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #787,339

@OP
> McDonaldization – the process by which a society takes on the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant.
W-what?

Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 9 years ago, 3 minutes later, 14 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #787,340

@previous (D)
Yes. What is your question?

Anonymous E joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 24 minutes later, 38 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #787,343

@787,339 (D)

In essence, McDonaldization is the process of rationalization, albiet taken to extreme levels. Rationalization is a sociological term that simply means the substitution of logically consistent rules for traditional (or illogical) rules. One of the fundamental aspects of McDonaldization is that almost any task can (and should) be rationalized.

The process of McDonaldization takes a task and breaks it down into smaller tasks. This is repeated until all tasks have been broken down to the smallest possible level. The resulting tasks are then rationalized to find the single most efficient method for completing each task. All other methods are then deemed inefficient and discarded.

The result is an efficient, logical sequence of methods that can be completed the same way every time to produce the desired outcome. The outcome is predictable. All aspects of the process are easily controlled. Additionally, quantity (or calculability) becomes the measurement of good performance.

By now, you might be thinking that this all sounds pretty good. After all, being more efficient is a good thing. Controlled, consistent and measurable outcomes also sound good. So, what's the problem?

It turns out that over-rationalizing a process in this manner has an unexpected side effect. It's called irrationality. In a sociological context that simply means that a rationalized system may result in events or outcomes that were neither anticipated or desired, and in fact, may not be so good.

Take the example of the McDonald's chain of restaurants. Where is the irrationality? The premise of fast food often turns out to be just the opposite - long waits in lines. Fast food is not necessarily good food - in fact, McDonald's food is extremely unhealthy and the taste is average and bland. The system of efficiently producing and distributing their food has some other consequences, namely millions of tons of trash each year (disposability) and a food cultivation system of questionable ethics.

Thanks Google

Anonymous F joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 7 minutes later, 46 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #787,347

McCancer

Green !BEERiVqJJw joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 1 hour later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #787,355

@787,338 (C)
McDove.

The Witch Doctor !6W1Zpe4MCM joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 24 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #787,359

McRefugee – people who stay overnight in a 24-hour McDonald's.

lol

Anonymous I joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 54 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #787,382

@previous (The Witch Doctor !6W1Zpe4MCM)
McWalter shouldn't be considered a McRefugee if he is actually there overnight, eating the whole time. That's just considered his McDinner

The Witch Doctor !6W1Zpe4MCM replied with this 9 years ago, 25 seconds later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #787,383

@previous (I)
True, true. Maybe McBert is a McRefugee.

Anonymous I replied with this 9 years ago, 1 minute later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #787,384

@previous (The Witch Doctor !6W1Zpe4MCM)
That's likely, and also where he gets his McInternet connection!