2022 Word of the Year

Well, here I am with the first month of 2023 over.  It demonstrates the discipline required to write a regular blog post, but I am determined to be more organized – time will tell.  The end of one year and the start of another always starts with lots of good intentions and New Year’s resolutions.  In the world of languages, we always like to conclude the year with a “word of the year award”.  On this side of the Atlantic, the Oxford Dictionary is one of the big players in the linguistic world to nominate a “word of the year” for the English-speaking world.  For the first year ever, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) let the public decide what was to be the “word of the Year” for 2022.  And yes, with a resounding 93% of all the votes, it was, wait for it, “goblin mode”.  Well, this perplexed me because I must admit I had never heard this before.  Being of New Zealand birth, I could only think it had some relationship to the Lord of the Rings movies.  Was it something to do with the new LOTR: The Ring of Power series being screened on Amazon’s Prime streaming services?  Maybe it was a secret LOTR cult following that dressed up as Goblins when they watched an entire viewing of the twin trilogy movie series.  But no, there was no relationship to goblins, trolls, fairies, wizards or other LOTR characters, it refers to a practice of self-indulgence, unadulterated laziness, slovenliness, or greediness, which may be considered undesirable by mainstream society but is all managed in good humour.  A term that was first used on Twitter in 2009, it went viral on social media in 2022, as we re-surfaced from the tentacles of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.  An example one member of the public gave to Oxford Dictionaries, of being in “goblin mode” – “was waking up at 2 am and shuffling into the kitchen wearing nothing but a long t-shirt to make a weird snack, like melted cheese on a salty cracker”.  So, there you have it, the Oxford English Dictionaries, word of the year for 2022 is “goblin mode”.

Across the Atlantic, the Merriam-Webster American English dictionary chose “gaslighting” after a 1,740% increase in searches for the term in 2022.  This may be a sad sentiment regarding the toxic culture that exists in some working environments.  It refers to the process of manipulating a person, usually at work, by psychological means into questioning their own sanity.  I must admit I have come across the term “gaslighting” quite frequently over the last few years, so I intend to dig a bit deeper and write another post regarding the history of “gaslighting”.

Of course, I can’t conclude this post without giving you my own personal favourite word of the year – this is the right I reserve as the author.  So, Karl’s “2022 word of the year,” is “cluttercore”.  What, I hear you ask is “cluttercore”.  Well, it describes a method of decorating your home, maximising your space, and showing off everything you have, not as a shambles, but in an organised way.  It is about showing off all your movie memorabilia, your Funko pops, books, DVDs (yes, people still have these) and other personal collectables.  I can’t proclaim to be an aficionado of “cluttercore”, but I love the word and concept.  My daughter and her husband have mastered the concept perfectly in their own home.  So, gone are the bare white walls and minimalist Scandinavian design trends, “cluttercore” might just be the perfect environment to embrace your inner “goblin mode”.

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