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The Glenn Beck Program

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Oxford Dictionary's word of the year is back, and this time its pissed!



What is the 2018 Oxford Dictionary word of the year? I know you're dying to know.

Every year, the word-nerds at Oxford select a word or expression that is judged "to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of that particular year and to have lasting potential as a word of cultural significance."

So, the winner each year is a word that's widely used, but not necessarily the most used. It has to be something that is used prominently and also captures the zeitgeist. For example, in 2006 the winner was "carbon neutral." How quaint does that sound now? In 2009, it was "unfriend," as in, what a lot of people are doing to Facebook right now. In 2013, it was "selfie." And last year's was "youthquake." When you look at their past winning words, for better or worse, they're pretty good at capturing the times.

RELATED: 'Feminism' Is the Word of the Year, but Do We Know What It Means?

Which brings me to this year's Oxford Dictionary word of the year… toxic. Oxford explains that it's "the sheer scope of its application that has made it the standout choice."

And now that they've mentioned it, they pretty much nailed it. It captures the cultural climate and must be the most overused word in the world right now. It used to be used mainly in health-related matters – toxic air, gas, algae, chemicals, fumes, waste, plastics. You know, stuff like "Tide pods are toxic."

But now, everything is toxic: toxic environment, rhetoric, policy, agenda, legacy, parenting, workplace, school, speech, culture, relationship, tweets, and everyone's favorite, toxic masculinity. That's not a joke – after chemical, Oxford found that masculinity is the most-used word in conjunction with toxic this year.

The use of "toxic" has clearly turned toxic.

"Toxic" sums up this week in the U.S. alone, never mind the rest of 2018 – Florida recounts, President Trump vs. CNN, Georgia's governor election, Michael Avenatti. CNN has used "toxic" in over 600 news stories and opinion pieces online so far this year. That's an average of two times per day. And that's just online. And that's just CNN.

The use of "toxic" has clearly turned toxic.

Toxic is simply defined as "poisonous." It comes from the Greek words "toxikon pharmakon" which means "poison for arrows."

Poisonous arrows – that pretty much sums up America's year of outrage.


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