The phrase Goblin Mode beat out 'Metaverse' and 'IStandWith' to be crowned the Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year 2022. What exactly does it mean and why does anything and everything as of late have a connection with Kanye West?

• Having secured over 3,00,000 votes from 3,00,000 English speakers over the span of two weeks, the slang term marks the first Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year to be chosen by the public.

The word joins the ranks of previous winners over the years including ‘Vax’ (2021), ‘Climate Emergency’ (2020) and ‘Toxic’ (2019).

But what exactly does Goblin Mode mean?

“A type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”

Shocker, isn’t it? Who could have thought that a term of the sort would resonate so resoundingly with the world as it stands right now?

Though the term originated on Twitter in 2009, it went viral in February this year over a fake news headline that claimed actress Julia Fox had broken up with Kanye West because “he didn’t like it when I [Julia Fox] went goblin mode”.

In the time since, the term has risen to fame exponentially and has captivated the imaginations of many social media rants, shitposts, memes and posts with people using the term to describe their unflattering, self-indulgent behaviour as a means to escape or relax. 

m was in full hyperactive goblin mode last night. it was as if she ate a bag of sugar-coated candy, then washed it down with a few red bulls

— jen f (@jenniferdujour) February 10, 2009

Worked 10-4 today. Money wasnt made @ work today but it was good timing 2 be productive on other things. Tuesday I'm going into GOBLIN mode!

— MOTIVATE (@MissMillions) February 6, 2010

your honor, my client was simply
in goblin mode and could not make rational decisions on his own

— luisma (filipino my swag dealer) (@pelusaurio) May 14, 2022

tell me why i'm sitting on the floor eating white rice with my hands like it's popcorn

is this goblin mode

— devon of nine (@dynamofire) April 2, 2022

And why shouldn’t it? In the aftermath of some of the worst couple years post-pandemic with the world on the brink of a Third World War and meandering in and out of economic recession, why shouldn’t we all go goblin mode every once in a while to let off some steam, keep our sanity intact.

Is it just me or do things just seem to be getting more unreal every day? If this universe is a simulation, someone turned that dial up to goblin mode and walked away from the controls

— Ahmed Baba (@AhmedBaba_) May 19, 2022

In a year where the socio-political significance of ‘IStandWith’ within the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ever-expanding digital frontier is being revolutionised with the advent of the ‘Metaverse’; it seems that people would rather lock themselves in a dungeon, shut out the world, and indulge in food, drink and other binges as a form of peak self-care. 

After a weekend looking 10/10 I am returning to goblin mode for a bit because life is about balance

— Mollie Goodfellow (@hansmollman) March 28, 2022

Sometimes, a bit of goblin mode is all we need to keep us going. (Kanye West will agree.)