You're a douchebag, I'm a douchebag, and everyone else is a douchebag, too. Except that we should really stop calling each other that, as the word is so overused that it has lost any meaning or cachet it once had. Lately, though, it seems that denouncing the word for being overused has become a relatively douchebag-y thing to do, too. The circle of douche continues.

Recently, a confusing spate of articles have appeared to opine on the popularity, and meaning, of everyone's favorite (or, for the popularity-backlash crowd, least-favorite) derogatory reference to vaginal cleansing devices. Such articles tend to appear in a few varieties.

First, there is the "our world is filled with douchebags" article, which appears to have two variants. The first warns you of the different sorts of douches you may encounter, detailing their personality types in a fashion that would seem to encompass nearly all men, everywhere. The second can be summed up like this: there are so many douches out there that, oh shit, you might be one, too, but you know, when you think about it, being a bit of a douche is kind of inevitable and really not so bad.

Second is the "douchebag has totally lost its meaning" article, which may include an exhortation to cease using the word. This one will also include a reference to the word's use on a TV show, such as The Daily Show, as proof positive that if you want to be considered a member of the linguistic cognoscenti, you had better stop saying "douchebag," right now.

Finally, we have the "where the hell did this word come from?" article, which tracks the word's origin and history. This article informs us that the word has actually been used as an insult for a while (who knew?); it's somewhat related to "tool" ("tool" is an interesting case. Five years ago, it was clearly in the same territory that "douchebag" is in now, but its popularity has waned, so is it OK to bring it back?); and that "douchebag" has become so ubiquitous because it's fun to say (no wonder "wet fart," Esquire's suggestion for a douchebag-replacement, hasn't quite caught on).

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