Editing McWord

{{Short description|Neologism comparing society to food chain}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2008}}
A '''McWord''' is a word containing the [[Prefix (linguistics)|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 [[neologism]]s designed to evoke pejorative associations with the restaurant chain or fast food in general, often for qualities of cheapness, inauthenticity, or the speed and ease of manufacture. They are also used in non-[[consumerism]] contexts as a [[pejorative]] for heavily commercialized or [[globalization|globalized]] things and concepts.

==Examples==
=== Official McDonald's products and branding concepts ===
[[Image:McIGN.jpg|thumb|right|A screenshot of the video gaming website [[IGN]] under "McIGN" branding, {{Circa}} September 2003]]
* [[McCafé]]
* McInternet &ndash; A free [[Wi-Fi]] service in some [[United States|U.S.]] McDonald's restaurants. In [[Venezuela]] and [[Brazil]],<ref>[http://www.mcdonalds.com.br/servicos/mcinternet.asp McDonald's: Serviços<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702163108/http://www.mcdonalds.com.br/servicos/mcinternet.asp |date=2007-07-02 }}</ref><!--and perhaps other South American countries, too, but I don't know of them!--> it is an [[Internet cafe]] service offered in several McDonald's restaurants.
* McState, now McHire &ndash; The McDonald's job and career search service.
* [[McWorld]] &ndash; The term was used in a mid-1990s McDonald's advertising campaign depicting a world ruled by children.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hood |first=Duncam |date=1999-03-01 |title=Revenge of the tweens |url=https://kidscreen.com/1999/03/01/24619-19990301/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814191915/https://kidscreen.com/1999/03/01/24619-19990301/ |archive-date=2011-08-14 |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=Kidscreen}}</ref> 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.
* [[Chicken McNuggets|McNuggets]]
* [[McChicken]]
* [[McDouble]]
* [[McRib]]
* [[McFlurry]]
* [[McMuffin]]

=== McWords not officially related to McDonald's ===
{{See also|wikt:Category:English terms prefixed with Mc- (derogatory)}}

*

*[[McChurch]] &ndash; A [[megachurch]].
* [[McDonaldization]] &ndash; the process by which a society takes on the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant.
* [[McDojo]] &ndash; 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]] &ndash; 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)|''McLibel'' (film)]]
* [[McMansion]] &ndash; Quickly-built [[mansion]]s; a group of large houses built in the same style in the same area.
* McMindfulness &ndash; A term coined by Ron Purser debunking the "[[mindfulness]] revolution".
* [[McOndo]] &ndash; A Latin American literary movement. The name is a spoof on the fictional village of [[Macondo]].
* McPaper (or McNews) &ndash; 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]]''.<ref>Prichard, Peter: "The Making of McPaper" Andrews McMeel Pub, 1987. [https://www.amazon.com/The-Making-McPaper-Inside-Story/dp/1596702869/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357337387&sr=8-1&keywords=the+making+of+mcpaper Amazon Link]</ref>
* [[McRefugee]] &ndash; people who stay overnight in a 24-hour McDonald's.<ref name="McRefugees in Hong Kong">{{cite news    
| url=  https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-05-01-mcrefugees_N.htm
| title= 'McRefugees' in Hong Kong? 
| publisher= [[USA Today]] 
| date= 1 May 2007
}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Cocacolonization]]
* [[Disneyfication]]
* [[Walmarting]]
* "[[Tesco Value]]" for a similar usage in the UK, referring to the supermarket [[Tesco]]'s own budget brand.
* [[Internet-related prefixes]]
* [[Boaty McBoatface]] and [[List of Mcface spoofs]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{McDonald's}}

[[Category:McWords| ]]
[[Category:McDonald's|Word]]
[[Category:Snowclones]]