# Goblin Mode is Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067 "2022-12-05T20:05:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/41 "2022-12-08T16:19:42Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > the word “sus” which originates from the game _Among Us_ Can’t be–wasn’t that game only released in 2018? “Sus(s)” (among other meanings) is a clipping of suspicious/suspect/suspicion. The _OED_ has plenty of citations. E.g., “It seemed a bit sussy to me” (1965), “What you nick me for? Sus?” (1936), “I sussed that all the dodgy bookshops would soon be skint” (1960), many many others. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/42 "2022-12-08T16:26:12Z")
Ok, then maybe the renewed popularity of the term came up from _Among Us_ or it was independently spawned there, as well. Interesting to see “sussy” back in 1965. I’m not sure what the 1936 meaning is, because it sounds different, and the 1960 meaning is a different meaning altogether meaning “figured out.” Actually, found a nice little article here; it does date back to 1930s police slang (but used in a different manner/construction) > **[Everyone’s favorite 'Among Us' catchphrase has a controversial past](https://www.inverse.com/gaming/sus-meaning-among-us-definition-origin)** > > 'Among Us' has made "sus" into an inescapable internet slang. But the term has a controversial past that dates back decades before the popular party game. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/43 "2022-12-08T17:40:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Ok, then maybe the renewed popularity of the term came up from _Among Us_ … I thought you had meant that “sussy baka”, specifically, came from _Among Us_. _ **Widespread** _ use of “sus” specifically as short for “suspicious” is new-ish (maybe a decade or so, cites otherwise notwithstanding). It was certainly nothing ever said in my cohort growing nor seen/heard in movies/media of the era (70s/80s). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/44 "2022-12-08T17:52:05Z")
Yeah, I remember saying stuff more like “that’s a little suspect…” in the 90s, but not “sus” or “sussy.” That said, first time I heard the word, I knew exactly what it meant. “Cringe” is another one that is obviously an old word, but used differently than when I was growing up. We’d never say something is “cringe,” rather something makes us cringe, or is cringe-worthy (or possibly “cringey.”) And “aesthetic” has taken a new life and usage in phrases like “that’s aesthetic,” which is not something I would ever hear or say in the 90s or even 00s. And “sussy baka,” according to a very shallow dive on the Internet, comes from a TikTokker named Akeam Francis, borrowing the (newly popularized) “sussy” from _Among Us_ with the Japanese word for “fool.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/45 "2022-12-08T17:56:19Z")
Never heard it. Not a good choice. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/46 "2022-12-08T18:08:29Z")
Per post #29 of this thread, it was selected via an online poll, which explains a lot. I’m disappointed the OED did it this way, as it appears to have resulted in a ‘word of the year’ that only deserves that title among a relatively small section of the online community. They should have made it clear the online poll wasn’t binding (or maybe it wasn’t, and they should have used more discretion - a bit like how that ship did not in fact get named “Boaty McBoatface” - yes I am aware this moniker was used for one of its tenders). ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/47 "2022-12-08T18:17:56Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > Per post #29 of this thread, it was selected via an online poll, which explains a lot. Ah well, there you go then. That decision was definitely a friday afternoon idea. If you ask the public you will get a stupid answer, guaranteed. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/48 "2022-12-08T18:21:02Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I don’t believe that. It’s just a term that hasn’t reached every corner of the society. I think we will find this happening more and more as people get isolated into their own online bubbles. “Goblin mode” just isn’t in our particular bubbles. Judging by the wider conversation here and more generally it has barely moved out of one tiny corner of society. As such it hardly justifies “word of the year” unless that means “a word that barely anyone knows and is of minimal cultural significance” Of course it has been re-emphasised that this was an online poll so…no surprises there. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/49 "2022-12-08T18:29:11Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > > [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > > > Merriam-Webster: gaslighting > > I hear this one a lot these days, but it took me a long time to understand it. Watch the (old black-and-white) movie whose title gave us the term. It’s the O.G. granddaddy of the behavior, and really underscores the psychological damage it can do. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/50 "2022-12-08T18:35:27Z")
Never heard. But my problem is it’s _TWO FUCKING WORDS!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/51 "2022-12-08T21:43:33Z")
Yes!! Me too. How can the " word of the year" be two words? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/52 "2022-12-08T23:11:56Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I’d pretty much guarantee that 95+% of Americans between the ages of 20 and 35 are very familiar and comfortable with the phrase. Are 17-year-olds Gen Z? I asked the kids if they’d heard “Goblin mode.” They had no idea what I was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![wjChia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wjChia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wjChia)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2022, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067/53 "2022-12-08T23:55:14Z")
pretty sure a big reason the phrase won is because people were voting against the word “metaverse”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goblin-mode-is-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year/976067.md?page=2)