The Oxford Dictionary has handed down its Word of the Year and its one that so perfectly sums up the last 12 months of whatever the fuck that was. My friends, the winner for 2022 is Goblin Mode.
Sure it might technically be two words and it may have been a publicly-voted award, but there is truly no other way to describe this year. We all went Goblin Mode in some shape or another, leaning right into the chaotic mess of our lives as we resurfaced from the last couple of years inside.
There’s no doubt that the extensive time in various stages of lockdown made everyone a little bit isolated and weird so us emerging on the other side like little goblins doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.
Julia Fox inadvertently helped to cement the popularity of the phrase “going Goblin Mode” earlier this year following her split from Kanye West, of course.
no fucking way pic.twitter.com/7LnXGQfgeI
— pudding person (@JUNlPER) February 15, 2022
It might have been a photoshopped headline, but my God did it kick something off deep in our collective psyche. Everyone yearned to go Goblin Mode just a little — just really let ourselves get a bit feral for a while without a shred of shame. What’s wrong with unapologetically being gross to get it our of your system? Nothing, my sweet goblins.
So what is Goblin Mode?
Oxford Dictionary described the word of the year as “a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations” which feels like the right way to explain our re-entry into society.
It also sounds like every night I have at home alone with no plans beyond taking off my pants, watching a trashy movie and ordering in dinner. There’s a sense of comfort and no-fucks-given energy when it comes to going full-blown goblin mode and we clearly embraced it this year.
Given the Australian word of the year is the “bachelor’s handbag” we really shouldn’t be surprised that goblin mode picked up the global title a week later. Those two concepts go hand in hand, there’s no denying that.
Nothing like going goblin mode on a Sunday afternoon with a bachelor’s handbag and a six-pack of bread rolls.
