Goblin Mode

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About

Goblin Mode is a slang term initially used to describe a person or animal acting feral or the cowgirl sex position which later achieved more literal association with goblin-like, chaotically evil behavior. In February 2022, the virality of the phrase culminated in a photoshopped headline that showed Julia Fox saying her breakup from Kanye West was because West didn't like it when she went "goblin mode." This confused people who both thought the headline was real and didn't understand the term itself.

Origin

The term "goblin mode" had circulated online for several years with an unclear definition before seeing more common use in the 2020s. On February 10th, 2009, Twitter user jenniferdujour^[11] was one of the first to use the phrase, writing, "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." On June 17th, 2020, Urban Dictionary ^[1] user dr. shitheadashole posted a definition for the term, writing, "When you lose yourself so you resort to becoming a goblin" (shown below).

Instances of the term being used in this way on social media often included pictures of animals acting wild or potentially less-flattering selfies (examples shown below).

Spread

The term grew more prevalent after October 5th, 2021, when Twitter user @housesitter_^[2] tweeted, "thinkin about how someone i used to hook up with called cowgirl position 'goblin mode,'" gaining over 2,800 retweets and 39,000 likes (shown below). In Twitter DMs, @housesitter_ confirmed to Know Your Meme that the story was true. He also pointed to a tweet by user @darth_panic^[3] who theorized that "goblin mode" may mean a more squatting sex position (knees up) instead of cowgirl (knees to bed).

The tweet by @housesitter_ proved to be a viral hit, as it was reposted to iFunny two days after it was shared.^[4] The term was also applied to a post from Reddit's /r/confessions in which the poster said they liked to creep around their house and act like a goblin. Twitter users hedlike_a_hole^[5] and Clarknova1^[6] both used the term "goblin mode" to describe the post (shown below).

On February 15th, 2022, Twitter user @meowmeowmeuw^[7] tweeted a photoshopped headline about Julia Fox and Kanye West, suggesting that Fox said West didn't like it when she went "goblin mode" (shown below). The actual headline from Pinkvilla^[8] reads, "Julia Fox opened up about her ‘difficult’ relationship with Kanye West before split announcement."

The photoshopped headline spread on social media, with some users and online publications, such as The Focus,^[9] believing it was real. The image also appeared on Reddit's /r/Kanye,^[10] gaining over 1,300 points.

Word Of The Year

On December 5th, 2022, Oxford Languages (the firm behind Oxford English Dictionary) announced that "goblin mode" was 2022's Word of the Year.^[12] "Goblin Mode" earned this special designation by winning a poll of over 300,000 users of the OED, joining 2021's winner "vax" in the pantheon of special words.

The OED defines "goblin mode" thusly:

‘Goblin mode’ – a slang term, often used in the expressions ‘in goblin mode’ or ‘to go goblin mode’ – is ‘a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.’

Some posters took issue with this definition, suggesting that it characterized "goblin mode" too negatively, like @AnnaHollinrake (seen below) who received over 300 likes for clarifying the "funky little guy" aspects of goblin mode on December 5th, 2022.^[13]

The dictionary connected the prevalence of "goblin mode" to society's reaction to the pandemic, which saw people embracing more socially inappropriate and goblinesque behaviors post-quarantine isolation. Linguist Ben Zimmer went further in remarks on Goblin Mode, saying the term "gives people the license to ditch social norms and embrace new ones.”

@JUNIPER, the Twitter account responsible for the Kanye West/Julia Fox fake news article which helped popularize Goblin Mode in 2022, reacted to the news in a December 5th, 2022 tweet which received over 100,000 likes in less than a day (seen below).^[14]

Gnomepill

Gnomepill and Gnomecore refer to a series of memes that humorously advertise gnomes' cozy, nature-appreciative way of life as a superior one. In memes, Gnomepill often constitutes a good versus evil dichotomy with Goblin Mode. "To gnomepill" has also been used in the meaning "to reveal the truth that gnomes exist."