Oxford names 'Goblin Mode' as word of the year
A slang term to describe lazy behaviour – “goblin mode” – was named by Oxford English Dictionary as this year’s word of the year, according to Oxford University Press, which publishes the dictionary.
This was the first year a public vote was used to select the word of the year. The phrase took 93% of the votes cast, or 318,956.
“Goblin mode” is defined as "a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations".
Oxford University Press said the term started appearing online in 2009, but went viral earlier this year over a fictitious headline scandal involving actress and model Julia Fox as well as a popular Reddit post describing someone who has been acting like a goblin.
As Covid restrictions eased, the term continued to grow as people realised they did not want to go back to the way life was before.
“Given the year we've just experienced, 'goblin mode' resonates with all of us who are feeling a little overwhelmed at this point,” Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, told the BBC. “It's a relief to acknowledge that we're not always the idealized, curated selves that we're encouraged to present on our Instagram and TikTok feeds."
Oxford’s runner up was “metaverse”, the term assigned to the virtual world introduced by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, with 14,484 votes, followed by #IStandWith, a hashtag that shows support to victims of war in Ukraine, with 8,639 votes.
Meanwhile, Collins English Dictionary named “permacrisis” as its word of the year. The word refers to an extended period of instability and insecurity, which may sum 2022.
Merriam-Webster dictionary announced “gaslighting” as its word of the year, based on searches for the word on merriam-webster.com that increased 1,740% in 2022.
Merriam-Webster’s definition for “gaslighting” is the psychological manipulation of a person, usually over an extended period of time, that “causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one’s emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator”.
