Originating from the movie The Matrix, this colloquial term means to face the hard reality instead of staying inside the comfort zone of fantasy. Synonym of "face it". Antonym of "take the blue pill".

The two states of being are as a human being, or a hungry ghost. Semi-regularly you need to ask yourself which you are. Sometimes it is human. Others, alas, it is hungry ghost.

The hungry ghost seeks validity outside of themselves. Someone pining for an indifferent ex is a hungry ghost. Someone who arrives alone at 6:30 on Saturday night to a pub is probably a hungry ghost. Obsessive checking of mobile phones, chat sites or networks are clear signs that one is a hungry ghost.

The best thing to do is just stay home and ride it out. Read a book. Find some good clean fun.

From the first Matrix movie. Taking the red pill opens the soon-to-be Neo's eyes to the fantasy that he had been living in. Morpheus says to Neo "You have to understand that many people are not ready to be unplugged, and many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it."

Contrast with taking the blue pill. If Neo would have taken the blue pill, he would have stayed within the Matrix and been blind to reality.