Media's use of "buzzwords"

This has always struck me as mostly lazy journalism but I'm always confused by the media's use of buzzwords. I think this has been pretty commonplace with local and national televised news for a while. Call me daft, but I feel like it's pervading gaming media more lately as well. A specific example I can think of recently that really sticks out to me every time I see it is the liberal use of the word "toxic" for so many things now. Is the reason for this truly laziness, or is it similar to the phenomenon that I experience where it tends to stick out the more it's used? With so many words at a writers disposal it just seems strange that many people reporting on subjects tend to gravitate to the hot new word of the day. Maybe it's just me, but does this stick out to anyone else?

It's all bout them clicks (sadly).

I would assume that a lot of it is just that writers tend to also be voracious readers of other journalists, and if a word is in the zeitgeist, it's more likely to pop up a lot in what they read and thus be in their head when they sit down and write something themselves. I think that's perfectly natural on the part of an author, but it should definitely be something an editor is aware of and tries to tamp down on. We used to have a semi-regularly updated list of banned words and phrases back at GameSpot. I don't remember much of what was on it, but I do remember "a mixed bag" being called out specifically as a no-go.

But, well, what are you going to do in this economy.

It sticks out, but I don't think it's exclusively a media thing (nor especially a games media thing). Some words just come in vogue and stick for whatever reason. I'd guess they happen when a word pops up that encapsulates accurately a thought and feeling at a time in a way that seems particularly epiphanous, so it sticks and spreads.

Call it zeitgeist, call it culture, call it cliché. What's annoying about it, as I see it, is when the ideas associated essentially become platitudinous, or worse when they're used as an intellectual trump card. Like the word or phrase is given too much baggage or something. The words and ideas themselves aren't necessarily problematic of course, just the way they're used.

Breaking: Toxic gamers call hottest release of the year fundamentally broken. Yet there's potential to it. This post is becoming a trainwreck. It started with a non-starter. Turns out i'm a flawed gem.

Hottest word on Twitch.tv is Cuck at the moment. Hottest emote has to be LUL. Now you too can be part of the conversation!

I see it as an extension of memes, something gets stupidly popular and everyone jumps on the bandwagon. A few examples are the overuse of referring to things as toxic, problematic, or interesting. The first two seem to be "SJW" buzzwords used around social and political topics, and the last one could be better expressed with different verbiage.

That said I'm not against people talking however they wish, using whatever words they desire. I'm not the thought police. Things come in and out of vogue all the time and language is just a small part of that.

It's nothing new for this generation either, it must of happened throughout all of history.