Oxford Languages, which contains the most comprehensive dictionary in the world, determines a ‘Word of the Year’ every year. The famous publisher chose ‘vax’, a shortened version of ‘vaccine’, which means vaccine, as the word last year. He recently announced that this year’s finalists have been determined; however, unlike the previous ones, he declared that the outcome would be determined by the public.
In the announcement made by Oxford, it was stated that the finalists were ‘metaverse’, ‘#IStandWith’ and ‘goblin mode’. Today, it has been announced that the voting has ended and which word was awarded the ‘Word of the Year’ title.
Word of the year is ‘Goblin mode’
Oxford announced the chosen word, stating that more than 340,000 people took part in voting in the last two weeks. According to the publisher’s statements, ‘goblin mode’ was the ‘Word of the Year’ with 93% of the total votes. It was stated that the term received 318 thousand 956 votes.
The ‘metaverse’, which we hear frequently in the technology world lately, described as the technology of the future and the name given to virtual worlds, took the second place with 14,484 votes. ‘#IStandWith’, one of the hashtags we often see on Twitter, used to support someone, a place or something, came in third with 8,639 votes.
So what does ‘Goblin mode’ mean?
The goblin mode, which we have not heard much in our country, is very popular in other countries and on the internet. Goblin mode, which is a slang term, simply means that an individual behaves as he pleases, rejecting social norms. Oxford defines it as “a type of behavior that is unrepentant, lazy, sloppy or greedy, self-indulgent, and rejects social norms and expectations”.
The popularity of the term first appeared on Twitter in 2009, but has recently gone viral on social media, particularly in February 2022, according to Oxford. It was also stated that the term became more common as people did not want to return to normal life after the COVID restrictions were lifted.
Casper Grathwol, president of Oxford Languages, said that the participation in the voting surprised him. He stated that the ‘goblin mode’ reflects on everyone who feels overwhelmed by what has happened in the past year. Saying that everyone adopts their inner goblin, the president also said that; He added that it shows that we are not always the people we try to present on Instagram and TikTok, so apps like ‘BeReal’, where people really show themselves, namely the goblin, are becoming commonplace.
So what do you think about the word of the year? You can share your thoughts in the comments.
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