Oxford Dictionaries announced that it has chosen “toxic” as its annual “Word of the Year”, arguing that it was “the sheer scope of its application that has made it the standout choice”. Strictly defined as “poisonous”, Oxford Dictionaries said on its website Thursday that its research showed that “this year more than ever, people have been using ‘toxic’ to describe a vast array of things, situations, concerns and events”, CNN reported.
“In its original, literal use, to refer to poisonous substances, ‘toxic’ has been ever-present in discussions of the health of our communities, and our environment,” it said, pointing, among other examples, to the recent increase in discussion surrounding the “toxicity of plastics”.
But it adds that “toxic” has “truly taken off into the realm of metaphor, as people have reached for the word to describe workplaces, schools, cultures, relationships and stress”.