What is Goblin Mode, Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year 2022

Social Media with all its great advantages in the 21st century also has a lot of negatives that can affect us both emotionally and mentally, whether it’s Twitter and its propaganda, the influencers on Instagram or uber-successful people on LinkedIn showing off their wits. Many of us may have been overwhelmed to the extent that a decision to stop trying seems like the best alternative.

Well, if you’ve been in this position, you should know that you are not alone and the Oxford University Press has announced “Goblin mode” as the word of the year, to aptly reflect what you feel.

For those who are alien to this term, goblin mode or to go goblin mode means “a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”.

Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year is supposed to capture the essence of the year that has gone by. Goblin mode, metaverse and #IstandWith were chosen as the Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year 2022.

Interestingly, goblin mode secured the pole position with a whopping 93 per cent votes in the poll conducted by Oxford University Press to choose the word of the year.

Over 3,40,000 English speakers around the world responded to this poll with the President of Oxford Languages, Casper Grathwohl, claiming that this level of engagement caught them by surprise.

The ’Goblin Mode’ trend emerged on social media as a way to counter people who liked to show off or brag about their insanely productive routines, great physique and mental as well as emotional health. This term can thus be seen as a silent revolution against a world constantly demanding you to be perfect and spend more energy trying to be the best version of yourself. The goblin mode can be seen as a way to say “thank you but not for me” in a demanding environment.

However, the critics of goblin mode say that following this trend is a lazy and selfish attempt at not trying. It could even be labelled as self-centred behaviour.

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