As 2022 nears its finish, dictionaries are chiming in on the phrase that greatest that encompasses the yr. And based on Oxford Dictionaries, “goblin mode” is the 2022 phrase of the yr. The firm yearly chooses a phrase of the yr, however this time, it let the general public forged votes to decide on amongst three finalists. Over two weeks, greater than 300,000 folks weighed in, and on Monday, the dictionary introduced goblin mode was the winner.
It defines “goblin mode” as a slang time period for “a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.”
Oxford Dictionaries says its annual phrase of the yr displays the temper of the previous 12 months and that it additionally seeks to decide on one thing with the potential for lasting cultural significance. Past Oxford phrases of the yr embody “vax” in 2021, “climate emergency” in 2019, and “selfie” in 2013.
“Goblin mode” received its begin on Twitter in 2009, however the time period went viral in February 2022. The expression’s rise in in recognition coincided with the easing of COVID restrictions, as extra folks began venturing out of their properties. Some rejected or struggled with the return to normalcy and continued dwell of their lives unapologetically in goblin mode.
“Goblin Mode really does speak to the times and the zeitgeist, and it is certainly a 2022 expression. People are looking at social norms in new ways. It gives people the license to ditch social norms and embrace new ones,” American linguist and lexicographer Ben Zimmer mentioned at an occasion for Oxford Dictionaries.
While it’s a informal time period typically seen on social media, it has made its approach into main news publications too, like when The Times of London printed an opinion piece during which the writer mentioned too many individuals had embraced goblin mode “in response to a difficult year.”
The second place winner in Oxford’s phrase of the yr vote was “metaverse,” describing “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.” based on the dictionary. Though the phrase metaverse has been round because the early Nineteen Nineties, it actually took off prior to now yr as Facebook tried to rebrand itself as a metaverse firm.
In third place: “#IStandWith,” a hashtag used to “express solidarity with a specific cause, group, or person,” the dictionary says.
Oxford is only one of a number of main dictionary firms vying to outline the phrase of the yr. Last month, Merriam-Webster chosen “gaslighting” as its 2022 phrase of the yr, and Collins English Dictionary went with “permacrisis.”
