The word of the year

The words were “metaverse”, “ #IStandWith”, “goblin mode”.  With 93 percent of the audience votes, “goblin mode” was the clear winner by votes. People's word of the year.

The term is defined as “a type of behavior that is highly self-indulgent, lazy, sloppy or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations” according to a statement from Oxford Languages.

Also a slang term that rejects social norms or expectations. Although the expression was first seen on Twitter in 2009, "goblin mode" went viral on social media in February 2022, quickly making its way into newspapers.

The term then gained popularity in the following months as Covid lockdown restrictions eased in many countries and people ventured out more regularly.

The expression seems to have captured the prevailing mood of individuals who have rejected the idea of returning to "normal life", or have rebelled against the increasingly unattainable aesthetic standards and unsustainable lifestyles exhibited on social media.

Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, said people have embraced their inner pixie.

 He added: “We had hoped that the public would enjoy being involved in the process, but this level of engagement with the campaign took us totally by surprise.

The power of the answer highlights how important our vocabulary is in understanding who we are, and processing what is happening in the world around us.

Given the year we have just lived, the 'goblin mode' falls on all of us who are feeling a little overwhelmed and, at this point, we express this feeling with our messages on social networks."

The runner-up was "metaverse", the "digital follies" of the future with 14,484 votes, followed by "#IStandWith" with 8,639 votes and the thought turned to the "follies" of the war in Ukraine.

It seems, in some ways, a rather frivolous choice, but in reality the more you delve into it, the more you realize that it is actually a sort of reaction to the existing state of affairs.

We felt that we were a species that tends to withdraw, withdraw, isolate itself and no longer want our life to be cured by filters wrapped up in a sort of magical and tragic madness.

Last year's word of the year had been "vax," and it echoed a kind of necessary survival.

Goblin mode is a neologism for the rejection of society's expectations and the act of living sloppily and hedonistically without worrying about one's self-image.

While the term's use dates back to 2009 with varying definitions, it went viral in 2022 due to a tweet by popular Twitter "shitposter" @JUNlPER featuring a doctored news headline of an interview with actress Julia Fox, who he claimed to have used the phrase.

The term quickly went viral on social media platforms like TikTok, often in response to other trends. In April 2022, business mogul Elon Musk posted a macro image implicitly attributing his proposed takeover of Twitter, Inc. to him being in "goblin mode."

In June 2022, the term was defined on Dictionary.com as "a slang term for a mode of behavior that indulges in basic habits and activities without regard for adherence to social norms or expectations."

The popularity of "goblin mode" may also be linked to rejection of the carefully curated perceived lifestyles presented by social media users.

The trend has also been linked to a way of dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on society as this is described as a lifestyle that gives people permission to reject social norms and embrace their basic instincts.

As always, human language seeks not only to read, understand and transcribe reality, but also to define it and give it meaning.

After all, as a modest language scholar, I allow myself to think that ours is always, in any case, a life lived in "globin mode".