Oxford Names 'Rage Bait' Word of 2025, Not 'Genocide' or 'Propaganda'
Oxford selecting 'rage bait' as the Word of the Year for 2025, as reported by Deutsche Welle, is truly inspired. Not 'genocide,' despite the International Court of Justice weighing in. Not 'dehumanization,' despite the relentless media portrayal of Palestinians as nameless, faceless threats. We're meant to focus on the alleged manipulation of our emotions, not the horrific actualities generating
those emotions. This is the linguistic equivalent of complaining about the smoke alarm while the house burns down. The actual 'rage bait' isn't some clever TikTok trend; it's the 24/7 whitewashing of mass slaughter, the selective outrage for certain victims, and the perpetual gaslighting that demands calm while bombs fall. Maybe the real rage bait is thinking we won't notice the difference.