Oxford word of the year 2022 revealed as 'goblin mode'

The first Oxford word of the year to be chosen by public vote has been announced. “Goblin mode” has been chosen by the public as the 2022 Oxford word of the year. The winning word, "goblin mode", is a slang term describing "unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy" behaviour.

Given a choice of three words (or phrases/hashtags – “word” is defined fairly loosely), narrowed down by lexicographers from Oxford University Press (OUP), more than 340,000 English speakers around the world cast their vote.

“Metaverse” was the second choice, followed by “#IStandWith”. Goblin mode was a landslide victory: it was selected by 318,956 people, making up 93%of the overall vote.

The winning term was first seen on Twitter in 2009, but went viral on social media in February 2022 after being tweeted in a mocked-up headline.

Goblin mode joins previous Oxford words of the year “vax” (2021), “climate emergency” (2019), and “selfie” (2013). 

Other dictionaries have also selected 2022 words of the year: Collins chose “permacrisis”, while Cambridge Dictionaries went for “homer,” which went viral in May thanks to the game Wordle.

Source: www.theguardian.com

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