What exactly is goblin mode? With whom do you #Stand? Do we all exist within the metaverse? And why are Oxford English Dictionary specialists discussing the ex-girlfriend of Kanye West, Julia Fox? Everything revolves around the 2022 word of the year…

2022: Spent considerable time in the metaverse? Or perhaps you’ve been in goblin mode?

Perhaps you’ve used the hashtag #IStandWith on social media to declare your support for particular causes or individuals.

These three “words” have been nominated by Oxford Languages, the home of the Oxford English Dictionary, for Word of the Year 2022.

A committee of experienced lexicographers has whittled a list of candidates down to three, but for the first time, the general public will have the last decision.

The winner will succeed “vax,” the 2021 Oxford Word of the Year. Dictionary competitor Collins has already announced its term for this year: “sperm crisis,” which means “a prolonged period of instability and insecurity.” Cambridge Dictionary has also announced its word for this year: “homer”; you can learn why it irritated many here.

Which of Oxford’s top three universities would you select?

Metaverse Is a virtual reality (VR) setting

Oxford asserts: “In’metaverse,’ the speculative future of 2022 is brought into common usage. From hybrid working in VR to arguments over the ethics and viability of an online future, this term’s usage has doubled in October 2022 compared to the same period the previous year.”

IStandWith – acknowledges the activism and polarization that have defined this year.

According to Oxford: “From the war in Ukraine to the Depp v. Heard case, this ‘term’ coined on social media to identify your beliefs with a cause or person may frequently exacerbate conflict (and occasionally even hate speech) because of its polarising nature.

Goblin mode is the concept of ignoring conventional norms in favor of acting as one pleases.

Oxford states: “Early usage dates back to 2009-2010, but as the world emerged from lockdowns, the phrase was coined in rejection of returning ‘back to normal after a bogus ‘statement’ from [Kanye West’s ex-girlfriend] Julia Fox brought the term back into the public.”

For those unfamiliar with the Fox “goblin mode” incident, a bogus quote tweeted by a Twitter user concerning Fox and West’s break-up was picked up by various news and media sites after becoming viral; this is an excellent example of fake news, which was Collins Dictionary’s word of the year in 2017.

Voting for Oxford’s Word of the Year for 2022 is currently underway and will end on 2 December.

Oxford Languages stated in a statement that this year was characterized by “opening back up” after the epidemic, but that despite being able to physically rejoin, “our world feels more divided than ever.”

“In acknowledgment of this change, we decided to open the last step of our Word of the Year selection process to the genuine arbiters of language: people from around the globe.”