Goblin mode, another quiet quitting word

The British public – at least the English-speaking kind – has reportedly chosen the 2022 word of the year, actually, two words: Goblin mode. While this may seem like English-speaking Britons may be, because of being under a very fluid regime over the last 340-odd days, desperately looking for comfort in an ancient fantasy word from an ancient fantasy world conjured up by J R R Tolkien, the truth is less fantastic. Going ‘goblin mode‘ apparently means to embrace a type of behaviour considered slovenly, anti-social, self-indulgent – essentially everything that lifestyle magazines and HR departments try to veer away anyone they consider ‘weak-minded’ from.

Decided by a public vote, the fact that there have been no complaints or protestations from goblins, who may have thought them to have been racially stereotyped by this year’s English word(s) of the year, should be a fortunate matter. One never knows when some community gets woken up by their inner woke. On the other hand, elves, sprites, dwarves, pixies and hobbits may feel upset that they have not been provided their ‘quota’ in the dictionary pages. Be on the lookout for more challenges for the gnomic gent that resides in 10 Downing Street. As for the Brits and their penchant for crowning a word of the year, remember what the rest of the world calls goblin mode – just letting go.