4 ms·
It's more than harmful—prior to the latest common usage, toxic usually meant potentially lethal for sufficient dosage. So, while it is indeed free of connotati
by pkghost 5y ago
It's more than harmful—prior to the latest common usage, toxic usually meant potentially lethal for sufficient dosage.
So, while it is indeed free of connotations of intent, it evokes disgust and, in fact, invites ostracism. If something is so dangerous that it can kill you, there's rarely much wisdom in attempting to talk it out of being lethal. Better to just remove it from your environment.
In any case, I agree that the word is tragically overworked. And don't we all know that overwork can be toxic.
- bseidensticker 5y agouh ok, sounds like you've thought about this a lot. I just meant to say that *to me*, toxic doesn't imply irredeemable. It's just a popular word for harmful.
- GavinMcG 5y agoThat may be an accurate technical meaning but lay people still just meant "harmful" well before it started being applied to behavior.
- sudosysgen 5y agoEverything is potentially lethal given a sufficient dosage. So really I think "toxic" is appropriate.
- _game_of_life 5y agoSo what you're saying is... Toxic is being toxically overused?
- ikr678 5y agoI understand it to be harmful, but in a way that contaminates the environment around it. A bad colleague can be a dick, in isolation, whereas a toxic colleague would be someone whose behaviours poisons their surrounds and brings out bad behavior in other people in their team. I am non-contact with a toxic parent because I know it brings out worse behaviour in myself, and I want to stop that cycle of passive-aggressiveness and judgement towards people I do care about.