'Goblin mode' declared Oxford word of the year

"Goblin mode" has been declared the 2022 Oxford word of the year. It was chosen by a public vote and won by a massive majority of 318,956 votes, making up 93% of the total votes cast.

The word beat a number of other neologisms that made up this year's shortlist. They include "metaverse" in second place and "#IStandWith" in third.

According to Oxford dictionary, Metaverse describes "a virtual reality environment in which users interact with one another's avatars and their surroundings in an immersive way." While the hashtag #IStandWith is used when a person wants to show support for someone in a given context.

Goblin mode refers to "a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations."

The phrase is not new and has been in existence since 2009, but it went viral on social media in February this year. It caught people's fancy after a mocked-up headline quoted actress Julia Fox saying that rapper Kanye West didn't like it when she "went goblin mode."

"Given the year we've just experienced, 'goblin mode' resonates with all of us who are feeling a little overwhelmed at this point," said the president of Oxford Languages, Casper Grathwohl.

"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.

Its usage spiked in the first half of this year as several countries eased COVID restrictions.

Linguists say that the word speaks "to the times and the zeitgeist" and captures the mood of individuals who reject the "increasingly unattainable aesthetic standards and unsustainable lifestyles exhibited on social media."

It is the first time in history that the choice of the Oxford Word of the Year has been opened for a public vote. More than 300,000 people cast their vote over the last two weeks to choose "goblin mode" as the word of the year.