Felicia Day Shares Feelings on GamerGate, Gets Doxxed
Yesterday The Guild creator and TV star Felicia Day published a moving Tumblr post ("The Only Thing I Have to Say About Gamergate") expressing her fears about certain aspects of the GamerGate movement - accusations of engaging in harassing, threatening and doxxing women.
To me, this headline might as well have been written in Cyrillic or Mandarin, such is my complete absence of familiarity with any of the persons and concepts mentioned in it. However, for reasons soon to be explained, one word in particular captured my attention and sent me scurrying to the dictionary (that's why they're there): Doxxed.
dox
däks/
verb informal
past tense: doxxed; past participle: doxxed
search for and publish private or identifying information about (a particular individual) on the Internet, typically with malicious intent.
Think of the file extension, and it makes sense: .docx
With all due credit to Joe (wiry mother in an orange cap) Kerstiens, who quite some time ago introduced me to Noblesville, Indiana born author Rex Stout and the Nero Wolfe series of detective novels, the word "doxxed" persisted in appearing as "doxy" to me, as in "Death of a Doxy," in which the meaning is explained.
"My sister was a what?"
"D,O,X,Y, doxy. I happen to like that better than concubine or paramour or mistress. I don't —"
I stopped because I had to, to protect my face.
— Archie Goodwin, conversing with Stella Fleming in Death of a Doxy, chapter 5
The dictionary approaches it with more bluntness.
dox·y
ˈdäksē
noun archaic
a lover or mistress.
a prostitute.
Verbs and nouns, informal and archaic. Make 'em count.
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