'Goblin mode': What does the Oxford word of the year mean?

The public has given their verdict and has selected their 2022 Oxford word of the year. Drumrolls... It is "Goblin mode," which is described as "a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations" in the Oxford dictionary. The slang term is often used in idioms like “to go goblin mode” and “I am in goblin mode”.

For those unaware, Oxford Word of the Year reflects the mood, ethos, and social landscape of a given year.

More than 340,000 English speakers around the world were asked to choose the Oxford word of the year between three options narrowed down by lexicographers from Oxford University Press (OUP). The second and third options were "Metaverse" and "#IStandWith".

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"Goblin mode" won the online vote by a landslide and got318,956 votes, which is about 93 per cent of the total.

The phrase first appeared online in 2009, however, it gained popularity earlier this year as a result of a made-up incident involving actress Julia Fox and a well-liked Reddit post describing someone acting in a goblin-like manner.

"I think that Goblin Mode really does speak to the times and the zeitgeist, and it is certainly a 2022 expression,"said Ben Zimmer, American linguist and one of the panellists who chose the finalists. "People are looking at social norms in new ways. It gives people the license to ditch social norms and embrace new ones."

"I think as well as reflecting the extent to which our experience of the world and communication is mediated increasingly by social media and the internet, it also perhaps represents ongoing questions about ownership and regulation on new technologies — especially those means by which we communicate,"said Jonathan Dent, Senior Editor atOxford English Dictionary, OUP.

OUP described2022 as a yearcharacterised by reunion and reconnection after the COVID-19 pandemic and also by social and political change. And, the poll invited“everyone and from everywhere” to have their say on what word/phrase best reflects their 2022 experience.

"I’m so excited by this because this is true democracy. English is a democracy; there is no guiding authority telling us what we can say, what we can’t say, what is correct and what is incorrect. This really feels like Word of the Year is going to reflect that authentic approach,” said Susie Dent, popular English author and lexicographer.

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