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Language, the original maxxer

Born from Game Theory, the word was absorbed into video and board gaming slang, before 4chan message boards and incel circles turned it into the portmanteau ‘looksmaxxing’.

The practice of going to extreme lengths — like breaking and reforming one’s jaw — to “improve” one’s looks because that, according to the strange logic of misogyny, was the only way to gain confidence and attract women.

2 min read Oct 28, 2026 06:49 AM IST First published on: Oct 28, 2026 at 06:15 AM IST

Words can travel far enough from their roots that they lose any obvious connection to their origins. Take “camouflage”. The root word, camouflet, described a practical joke that involved blowing air up someone’s nose while they slept. “Berserk”, which now means “out of control with anger”, comes from the Old Norse noun berserkr, which described frenzied warriors who wore bearskin coverings.…