Wook

Submission 18,410

About

Wook or Wookie is a sometimes derogatory word for a hippy that frequents EDM and jam-band concerts and festivals. The word has been used as early as the 1980s, originally comparing hippies to a Star Wars Wookiee due to their hair. In memes, wooks are commonly associated with drugs, bad hygiene, a lack of interpersonal awareness, white person dreads, and frugality.

Origin

The word "wook" has referred to hippies since at least the 1980s. On August 29th, 2010, User MJZ1974 posted to a forum on Phish.net^[1] asking users to define "Wook." The user mentioned, "I first heard it from my brother and his buddies after the Dead '87 Summer tour."

Spread

In 2002, the picture Wook #17 on the site w00ks.org (show below). The picture is of a hairy hippie named Dan Patchcomb. His face has been edited onto a number of image macros on a number of forums, particularly those centered on jamband concerts.

On May 27th, 2005, Urban Dictionary^[2] user Sweaty Ray May gained over 2,900 upvotes for defining "wook" as:

noun or adjective. a dirty, hairy, stinky, mal-nourished, dishonest creature that often travels in packs, with possibly and unfortunately, mangy, multi-colored dogs on hand-made all natural, organic hemp leashes, or alone wandering aimlessly around a concert (usually "hippie music") parking lot with a few seemingly more important than the music goals; find as many mind altering substances and cram them into their bodies as fast and furiously as possible, get into the show somehow, don't lose the dog this time, and if by chance they come across unattended property such as a cooler, chair, backpack, or a beverage, it will then become their own. also once inside the show and the music begins, even if it sucks, a true wook will never be able to tell the difference because once the substances take effect, many of them can actually be seen dancing and "gooving" to music that only they can hear. wooks are only useful in one way: if you are trying to warn or scare a younger more easily influenced friend about the dangers of drugs, just tell them to observe and study the behaviors of wooks in their natural surroundings, but warn them that if they get too close, they may risk becoming one themselves!

On April 6th, 2015, David Garber of Vice^[4] published the article "How to Spot a Festival Wookie." Since then, Instagram accounts like wooksofinstagram^[5] and passedoutwooks^[6] have gained thousand of followers. Wooks have also been discussed on subreddits such as r/festivals.^[3]