Explained: Meaning Of 'Goblin Mode', Oxford's Word Of The Year 2022

Each year, Oxford Dictionaries chooses a word of the year that best captures "the ethos, attitude, or preoccupations of the previous 12 months. More than 300,000 individuals participated in the perilous first public vote on the issue in 2022, which was made available to the general public for the first time.

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This year, 'Goblin mode' is the Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year and has been declared so by public's popular vote.

What is a goblin?

Goblin is a "generic word for bad and mischievous spirits, usually little and ugly in appearance," according to the Dictionary of Fairies by British author and folklorist Katharine Briggs.

The term came to denote a creature that lives underground. The word has multiple origins and meanings according to folklore.

What is 'Goblin Mode'?

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Goblin mode is a slang phrase that is officially defined by Oxford as "a type of behaviour that is unapologetically self-indulgent, sluggish, slovenly, or selfish, generally in a way that opposes social norms or expectations." It is characterised by "lazy, selfish, shameless behaviour," according to BBC Language.

The phrase was initially used on Twitter in 2009, but it gained popularity online in February 2022 as more features of people's pre-pandemic lives began to resurface, according to a press release.

"After that, when COVID lockdown regulations loosened in several nations and individuals began leaving their homes more frequently, the phrase gained prominence. It appeared to reflect the general attitude of people who were rebelling against the notion of going back to "regular life" or the unrealistic ideals of beauty and unsustainable lives that were being displayed on social media,¡± said the release.

How was the word selected as a 'word of the year' by Oxford?

The term of the year was determined by statistical analysis of Oxford's enormous language corpus, which consists of huge collections of electronically taggable text that are frequently updated with fresh English terms sourced from around the globe. The list is reviewed by Oxford's lexicologists, who look at trends & patterns and provide a set of data-driven candidates for the word.

In this year's competition, "goblin mode" faced off against runners-up "metaverse" and the hashtag "#IStandWith," all of which have strong ties to internet culture. With over 340,000 votes, "goblin mode" ultimately won with 93 percent of the total.

The encouragement from numerous online forums helped it gain momentum, and PC Gamer even pleaded with readers to "put aside our petty disputes and vote for 'goblin mode' over'metaverse' as the Oxford Word of the Year."

In a press release announcing the word of the year, Oxford Languages president Casper Grathwohl noted that "goblin mode" spoke to people who were "a little overwhelmed at this stage."

Oxford's Word of The Year | Unsplash

According to Grathwohl, the fact that "goblin mode" was chosen by voters as the Word of the Year demonstrates how individuals are accepting their inner goblins.

According to Oxford's experts, the addition of a word that embodies the spirit of defying convention and performing flair was particularly appropriate in a year that saw plenty of change in terms of the environment, politics, and physical rights around the world. They claimed that the entire purpose of the word of the year is to capture "the ethos, mood, or preoccupations" of the previous 12 months.

Other words of the year

The Collins Dictionary's word of the year was permacrisis, which is defined as an extended time of insecurity and instability.

"Gaslighting" was selected by Merriam-Webster as the Word of the Year for 2022. The definition of the phrase is "psychological manipulation designed to cause an individual to doubt the reliability of their own thinking."

"Homer" was chosen by Cambridge Dictionaries as the word of the year.