OED WORD OF THE YEAR: “TOXIC”

Oxford Dictionaries has announced that their Word of the Year 2018 is “toxic.” The British publisher said there was a 45 percent rise in the number of times the word “toxic” was searched for in a variety of contexts on its websites this year. The 10 most looked-up terms containing the word:
1. Toxic Chemical
2. Toxic Masculinity
3. Toxic Substance
4. Toxic Gas
5. Toxic Environment
6. Toxic Relationship
7. Toxic Culture
8. Toxic Waste
9. Toxic Algae
10. Toxic Air
Eight other words made the shortlist for Word of the Year:
– Gaslighting: The action of manipulating someone by psychological means into accepting a false depiction of reality or doubting their own sanity.
– Incel: A member of an online community of young men who consider themselves unable to attract women sexually.
– Techlash: Negative reaction to the growing power and influence of large technology companies.
– Gammon: A derogatory term in Britain to describe white people, especially those on the political right or who supported Brexit, who appear pink-faced when emotional. The term is a comparison of their flushed skin color to the pink of gammon, which is salted pork leg.
– Cakeism: The belief that it is possible to enjoy or take advantage of both of two desirable but mutually exclusive alternatives at once.
– Overtourism: An excessive number of tourist visits to a popular destination.
– Orbiting: Abruptly withdrawing from direct communication with someone while still monitoring, and sometimes responding to, their activity on social media.
– Big Dick Energy: An attitude of understated and casual confidence.
* Hey, that’s three words.
* We used to do gaslighting in college, but that was something totally different.
* Orbiting sounds more like post-relationship stalking.
* Come to think of it, lots of British men DO look like a salted pork leg.
* I’m surprised Fake News isn’t on the list, because this is it.
* Is this supposed to make us all run out and buy a dictionary?