'Goblin mode': Word of the year: BBC News Review

Are you lazy, greedy and selfish? Then you need to learn 'goblin mode',

Oxford's 2020 word of the year.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English,

I'm Neil. And I'm Beth.

Make sure you watch to the end to learn vocabulary to talk about the story.

Don't forget to subscribe to our channel, like this video

and try the quiz on our website.

Now, the story.

What word describes lazy, greedy, shameless behaviour?

It's 'goblin mode' and it's word of the year, according to one

UK publisher.

Since the pandemic,

some people have realised they don't want to go back

to the lifestyle they had before. They want to stay in goblin mode.

Oxford University Press chooses a word each year that reflects the mood

of the past twelve months.

You've been looking at the headlines,

Beth. What's the vocabulary?

We have speaks to, over and unveils.

This is News Review from BBC

Learning English.

Let's have a look at our first headline.

This one comes from the Guardian.

OK. Well, first of all 'goblin mode'.

A goblin is a small, ugly, possibly dangerous creature -

a fictional one. 'Mode' is a way of doing something. So, together,

'goblin mode' describes a way of doing something in a

kind of unpleasant, slightly embarrassing way.

So, for example, Beth.

I'm sure you never did this,

but working from home, wearing pyjamas in bed.

No, never did that. No.

OK, that's goblin mode.

We're looking at the expression 'speaks to' and in the headline,

it's 'speaks to the times'. What does it mean?

'speaks to the times' is a reflection of the mood of the people at that time.

So 'the times' referred to in the headline is talking about this current time,

so the post-pandemic world. During the pandemic when,

obviously key workers who had to do really essential jobs were very, very busy,

but a lot of other people were forced to be lazy because there was nothing to do.

Exactly. They enjoyed wearing their pyjamas, didn't wear make up,

they didn't care about their appearance as much, so they went 'goblin mode'.

Yeah. And so 'goblin mode' speaks to the times.

It means it reflects the times as they were.

Now, is this, is this common?

It is in American English and it is becoming more popular

in British English.

So, for example, we could say

that the climate crisis speaks to a failure of governments for decades.

Yeah, it means it reflects a failure.

Let's take a look at that again.

Let's take a look at our next headline.

This is from the Huffington Post.  

So, the headline says

that the word of the year 'sums up'

how we feel – 'sums up' means 'summarises'. We are looking though at

'over' and that seems simple,

I know 'over'. You go over a bridge, the bridge goes over a river.

Is that what we're talking about?

Well, in your examples you've used 'over' as a preposition, but here,

it's actually an adjective.

Right, OK. So, what does it mean?

Well, if you're 'over' something

then you are tired, bored and unenthusiastic about something.

So, maybe initially, at the beginning,

you were quite enthusiastic,

but now you're ready for it to finish.

OK, so you've had enough of something, you're fed up.

Yeah, exactly. So, the World Cup.

I was quite enthusiastic about it at the beginning,

but now, I feel like it's been going for ages.

I am over it. Oh really?

I'm still really 'into' the World Cup and that's the opposite of 'over',

isn't it? It is

and we very often use

'so' with this.

We say I am 'so over it'.

Now, in the headline,

it refers to how unenthusiastic people are about everything.

And when they say 'everything', they mean this year –

all the negative events going on.

There's a lot of bad news around. This use of 'over'

is quite informal, isn't it?

Yeah. It's very often used in spoken conversation.

So, I might be having a chat with you and say I am over working from home,

I want to be in the office five days a week.

Well, here we are.

Let's take a look at that again.

Let's take a look at our next headline.

This one is from Fox News.

We are looking at the word 'unveils'. It makes me think of a traditional wedding

where a bride wears a veil over her face and then it's removed –

everyone can see the face.

Yeah. It helps to think of it

in this way because that is the literal meaning of 'unveil' but here,

it's metaphorical and it just needs to reveal or uncover.

You can imagine, you said it's metaphorical,

that Oxford have this word 'goblin mode' with a little curtain over it,

they open it and we can all see it.

Yes, exactly.

This word is also used when something like a new exhibition

or a piece of art, is uncovered or revealed.

And politicians use it as well to talk about their plans.

But is it used in everyday conversation?

Can I say to you 'I'd like to unveil my Christmas plans'?

No, not really, because it's quite a grand thing.

It might be that a company or a celebrity might unveil something

so you'd probably just tell me what your Christmas plans are.

OK, let's look at that again.

We've had speaks to – reflects,

over – bored of something

that has been happening

for a long time

and unveils – shows for the first time.

Don't forget there's a quiz on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

Thank you for joining us.

And goodbye. Bye.