orange pill

English

Etymology

Influenced by red pill, in reference to the orange color of the respective logos.

(urbanism): After the orange-colored logo of the YouTube channel Not Just Bikes.

Noun

orange pill (plural orange pills)

1. (slang) A notional pill taken by those who have become dedicated to investing in Bitcoin.
   • 2021 October 12, Dawdu M. Amantanah, “Taking The Orange Pill: A Theory Or Reality?”, in Bitcoin Magazine‎^[1], archived from the original on 2023-11-03:

     Lastly, the orange pill, which is ultimately the understanding of Bitcoin, teaches you gratitude. It forces you to withhold being wealthy to gain conviction first.

   • 2022, Jay Finne, Downloading Divinity..., Bloomington, I.N.: Xlibris, →ISBN, unnumbered page:

     In other words the notorious "orange pill" that I first heard of from Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert can be a tough one to swallow.

   • 2022 March 29, Sahana Kiran, “Vietnam takes the orange pill; Legalisation of crypto underway”, in Watcher Guru‎^[2], archived from the original on 4 November 2023:

     The Ministry of Finance is one among the other three agencies that would aid Vietnam in taking the orange pill.

   • 2023, Zeke Faux, Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall, New York, N.Y.: Currency, →ISBN, page 208:

     As I waited, the Italian critics and I respectfully contemplated Picozzi's work: a blister back of large orange pills with the Bitcoin logo on them—Bitcoiners like to say they've "taken the orange pill"—and a piece of white paper embossed with the phrase "Son of a bit."

   • 2023 September 22, Jesse Colzani, “The Subtle Art of Orange Pilling”, in Bitcoin Magazine‎^[3], archived from the original on 2023-10-01:

     This simple framework is an attempt to strategically identify the areas of interest of people who are new to Bitcoin and avoid overwhelming them with a big orange pill they might not be ready for.

2. (slang) The adoption of urbanist beliefs through engagement with online urbanism.
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see orange,‎ pill.
   • 2018 March 14, Theresa Brown, “Many Drugs and Many Doctors Lead to Many Mistakes”, in The New York Times‎^[4], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-27:

     For some, their knowledge of their own medications is limited to "I take the orange pill in the morning, the blue one in the evening and the white ones twice a day."

Verb

orange pill (third-person singular simple present orange pills, present participle orange pilling, simple past and past participle orange pilled)

1. (transitive, slang) To convince someone to invest in Bitcoin.
   • 2021 October 12, Dawdu M. Amantanah, “Taking The Orange Pill: A Theory Or Reality?”, in Bitcoin Magazine‎^[5], archived from the original on 2023-11-03:

     The goal of orange pilling someone has nothing to do with drugs. It is the notion that bitcoin will inevitably become the global reserve asset, while converting people to believe in the bitcoin standard.

   • 2022, John Turnure, Crypto Kingdom, Jota Press, page 118:

     "Hola, amigos! Are you having a good time?" The president spoke in accented but clear English. The president showed off his Bitcoin fluency, dropping references to Satoshi, mining, cold storage, and orange-pilled. Then he made the big announcement.

   • 2022 August 26, Mark Maraia, “What Does It Mean To Orange-Pill Someone?”, in Bitcoin Magazine‎^[6], archived from the original on 2023-07-14:

     I suggested she wait for her sister to show curiosity about bitcoin before attempting to orange-pill her.

   • 2023 July 5, Ciaran Lyons, “Should you 'orange pill' children? The case for Bitcoin kids books”, in Cointelegraph‎^[7], archived from the original on 2023-08-01:

     This is evident with Sam, who has been exposed to Bitcoin throughout her entire life. ¶ She even accidentally orange-pilled her own school teacher.

2. (slang) To convert someone to urbanist beliefs.
   • 2022 December 6, “Mastodon”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[8]:

     Orange Pilled is when you watch #notjustbikes and realize that the built environment around you, the assumptions you grew up with about distance and mobility, urban sprawl and car dependence, was all painstakingly planned and engineered to suck the life out of the city...

   • 2022 June 20, “High Gas Prices Are Revving Up This Online Anti-Car Movement”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[9]:

     Members quickly appropriated Slaughter's aesthetic, rewarding new converts with an "orange pilled" badge after they've experienced an anti-automobile epiphany. (Orange pilling is a reference to The Matrix movies, in which the hero sees the truth about the world after taking a red pill.)