Kicker: Goblin mode

NICK EICHER, HOST: Oxford’s 2022 word of the year is two words: Goblin Mode.

What in the world, right?

Here’s the definition:

It’s “a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.”

Goblin Mode.

Turns out the term gained popularity at the height of the Covid pandemic when many people found themselves just kind of let things go during lockdowns and restrictions.

Now, you’ll recall this was 2020 and Oxford seems about two years late, thereby giving us an actual demonstration of how Goblin Mode, you know, operates.

Webster shook off Goblin Mode and a week before Oxford chose its word of the year, which was “gaslighting.” That’s defined as “the act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for a personal advantage.”

Who knows—to use one of the runner-up words—maybe Webster was trolling Oxford?

It’s The World and Everything in It.

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