A McWord is a word containing the

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...

''Mc-'', derived from the first syllable of the name of the

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

restaurant chain. Words of this nature are either official marketing terms of the chain (such as '' McNugget''), or are

neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...

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 A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

for heavily commercialized or

globalized Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

things and concepts.

Examples

Official McDonald's products and branding concepts

Mayor McCheese McDonaldland is a McDonald's media franchise and the fictional fantasy world inhabited by Ronald McDonald and his friends. Starting with the creation of Ronald McDonald in 1963 it is primarily developed and published by McDonald's, initial att ...

McCafé McCafé is a coffee-house-style food and beverage chain, owned by McDonald's. Conceptualised and launched in Melbourne, Australia, in 1993, and introduced to the public with help from McDonald's CEO Charlie Bell and then-chairman and future ...

McDonaldland McDonaldland is a McDonald's media franchise and the fictional fantasy world inhabited by Ronald McDonald and his friends. Starting with the creation of Ronald McDonald in 1963 it is primarily developed and published by McDonald's, initial attem ...

* McInternet – A free

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...

service in some

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

McDonald's restaurants. In

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, it is an

Internet cafe The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

service offered in several McDonald's restaurants. * McState – The McDonald's job and career search service. *

McWorld McWorld is a term referring to the spreading of McDonald's restaurants throughout the world as the result of globalization, and more generally to the effects of international 'McDonaldization' of services and commercialization of goods as an eleme ...

– 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. * McNuggets * McChicken *

McDouble The McDouble is a hamburger sold by the fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's. It is a variation on the double cheeseburger, with only one slice of cheese placed between the two beef patties. It was introduced in 1997. It is one of the cheapest p ...

McRib The McRib is a barbecue-flavored pork sandwich periodically sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. It was first introduced to the McDonald's menu in 1981, following test marketing the year before. After poor sales, it ...

McFlurry The McFlurry is a brand of flavored ice cream distributed and sold by the American-based international fast food chain McDonald's. History The McFlurry was created by Canadian McDonald's franchisee Ron McLellan in Bathurst, New Brunswick, in ...

McArabia The McArabia is a pita bread sandwich available at all McDonald's outlets in Arab countries and Pakistan. It is known as the Grilled Chicken foldover in Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa, as McOriental in Spain, France and Holland, the McTurco ...

McMuffin McMuffin is a family of breakfast sandwiches sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. The Egg McMuffin is the signature sandwich, which was invented in 1972 by Herb Peterson to resemble eggs Benedict, a traditional Ame ...

McWords not officially related to McDonald's

McChurch McChurch is a McWord used to suggest that a particular church has a strong element of entertainment, consumerism or commercialism which obscures its religious aspects. The term is sometimes used as a derogatory synonym for megachurch. Definitions ...

– A

megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...

. *

McDonaldization McDonaldization is a McWord developed by sociologist George Ritzer in his 1993 book ''The McDonaldization of Society''. For Ritzer, "McDonaldization" is when a society adopts the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant. The process of McDonald ...

– the process by which a society takes on the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant. *

McDojo Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

– A

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

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 A diploma mill (also known as a degree mill) is a company or organization that claims to be a higher education institution but provides illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee. The degrees can be fabricated (made-up), falsified (fake ...

). *

McJob "McJob" is a slang term for a low-paying, low-prestige dead-end job that requires few skills and offers very little chance of advancement. The term "McJob" comes from the name of the fast-food restaurant McDonald's, but is used to describe any lo ...

– 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 ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' in 1986 and later popularised by

Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer, and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms ''Generation X'' and ''McJ ...

's novel '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture''. * McLibel case and ''McLibel'' (film) *

McMansion In suburban communities, McMansion is a pejorative term for a large "mass-produced" dwelling marketed to the upper middle class mainly in the United States. Virginia Savage McAlester, who also gave a first description of the common features w ...

– Quickly-built

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

s; a group of large houses built in the same style in the same area. * McMindfulness – A term coined by Ron Purser debunking the "

mindfulness Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention to the present-moment experience without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training. Mindfulness derives from ''sati'', a significant element of Hind ...

revolution". *

McOndo McOndo is a Latin American literary movement that breaks with the magical realism mode of narration, and counters it with languages borrowed from mass media. The literature of McOndo presents urban Latin American life, in opposition to the fictio ...

– A Latin American literary movement. The name is a spoof on the fictional village of

Macondo Macondo is a fictional town described in Gabriel García Márquez's novel '' One Hundred Years of Solitude''. It is the home town of the Buendía family. Aracataca Macondo is often supposed to draw from García Márquez's childhood town, Aracat ...

. * 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 ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

''.Prichard, Peter: "The Making of McPaper" Andrews McMeel Pub, 1987
Amazon Link
/ref> *

McRefugee ''McRefugee'' is a neologism and McWords, McWord referring to those who stay overnight in a 24-hour McDonald's fast food restaurant. The term was first created in Japanese: . That term had been largely replaced by , literally "net cafe refugee". ...

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

References

{{McDonald's

Word A word is a basic element of language that carries an semantics, objective or pragmatics, practical semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of w ...

Snowclones

Examples

Official McDonald's products and branding concepts

McWords not officially related to McDonald's

See also

References