‘Goblin mode’: What does Oxford’s Word of the Year mean?

With so many chaotic things going on in the world, how many times have we all just surrendered to our inner sloths, shedding the expectations of society?

Did you know there is a word to describe this behaviour? It means we have embraced “goblin mode”, Oxford’s word of the year.

What does ‘goblin mode’ mean and when did it surface? How was it chosen as the 2022 Oxford word of the year? We explain.

What is a goblin? 

British writer and folklorist Katharine Briggs’s Dictionary of Fairies says goblin is a “general name for evil and malicious spirits, usually small and grotesque in appearance”, as per The Conversation. 

The word evolved to mean a subterranean species. Folklore has attached different meanings and origins to the word.

Goblin mode

Oxford University Press (OUP), which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, defines goblin mode, a slang term, as “a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”.

The term first appeared on social media in 2009.

It went viral in February this year when a fictitious headline on the breakup of musician Kanye West and actress Julia Fox went viral. The tweet had a fake headline saying Fox said West did not like it when she “went goblin mode.”

The term has also been used on Reddit and Tiktok. The hashtag #goblinmode on TikTok is used as a rejection of idealised behaviour and always being the “best version of yourself”, says The Guardian.  

On Reddit, the phrase has been used to describe someone who has been “acting like a goblin”, as per BBC. 

The Conversation says that goblin mode may be a reaction to the early COVID-19 pandemic “emphasis on home and personal improvement – a ‘devil may care’ attitude in the face of hyper-curated social media content”.

According to Oxford Languages, goblin mode came to the limelight again after the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions started lifting across most parts of the world. The publication says the phrase “captured the prevailing mood of individuals who rejected the idea of returning to ‘normal life’, or rebelled against the increasingly unattainable aesthetic standards and unsustainable lifestyles exhibited on social media”.

How was the word chosen by Oxford?

For the first time, English speakers were given the chance to select the Word of the Year.

As per Oxford Languages, over 3,00,000 people cast their vote over the last two weeks to choose among three words narrowed down by lexicographers from OUP, reported The Guardian.

Goblin mode won with a landslide victory as it was chosen by 3,18,956 people, which is 93 per cent of the overall 3,40,000 votes cast.

“Metaverse” was people’s second choice with 14,484 votes and “#IStandWith” bagged third place with 8,639 votes.

Oxford defines metaverse as “a (hypothetical) virtual reality environment in which users interact with one another’s avatars and their surroundings in an immersive way, sometimes posited as a potential extension of or replacement for the internet, World Wide Web, social media, etc.”

The third winner “#IStandWith,” is identified as “a way for people to communicate their opinions and align their stances on specific events.”

The words rose to prominence following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February this year with accounts using hashtags #IStandWithUkraine and #StandWithUkraine, says data from social media and Oxford Corpus.

The power of goblin mode

Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, said people are accepting their inner goblin.

“Given the year we’ve just experienced, ‘goblin mode’ resonates with all of us who are feeling a little overwhelmed at this point”, he told The Guardian.

“It’s a relief to acknowledge that we’re not always the idealised, curated selves that we’re encouraged to present on our Instagram and TikTok feeds. This has been demonstrated by the dramatic rise of platforms like BeReal where users share images of their unedited selves, often capturing self-indulgent moments in goblin mode,” he added.

TV word expert Susie Dent told BBC News that Oxford Languages has maintained that the word of the year does not need to be a singular term.

On the chosen word goblin mode, she said, “It seems in some ways quite a frivolous choice but actually the more you dig into it the more you realise it is actually a kind of reaction to the existing state of affairs. We’re sort of retreating and no longer want our life to be curated by filters.”

Other words of the year

Permacrisis – an extended period of instability and insecurity – was Collins Dictionary’s word of the year.

Merriam-Webster chose “gaslighting” as its Word of the Year 2022. The term means “psychological manipulation intended to make a person question the validity of their own thoughts”.

Cambridge Dictionaries selected “homer” as its word of the year.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.