In the past, you found certain people annoying or pushy. In the meantime, people who are unpleasant are referred to as “toxic” – thereby stylizing themselves as the epitome of good and healthy.
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Fly agarics have long been known to be poisonous. The assumption that human behavior can also be toxic is rather new.
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The word “toxic” has become indispensable in debates about discrimination and hate speech, but also about friendship and relationships. In a figurative sense, it describes behavior or appearance that is poisonous and unpleasant for others, and has achieved fame largely for its “toxic masculinity”, which in net feminist jargon is used to describe an intrusive macho mentality. Whether the toxic is an inherent characteristic of the male or just a particularly annoying habit of a few men remains open: the only important thing is the enemy marking.
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