Complicated feelings

What do we mean when we talk about toxicity, abuse, and harassment? Where does the resource come from? Why do we scare each other with burnout? All of these words describe (and prescribe) changes in thinking, ethics, and behavior — from the recently introduced “crush” and “swipe” to the transforming concepts of “love,” “depression,” and “rudeness.” The phrasebook edited by sociologist Polina Aronson includes the most relevant and problematic of these terms. Where did they come from, and how do they affect society and language? What is the process of rethinking old words and borrowing new ones connected with? And how should we use them at all? Anthropologists, sociologists, journalists, psychologists, and psychotherapists have provided their points of view on this — and tried to understand even the most complex feelings.