Are you ‘Quiet Quitting’? Have you revelled in freudenfreude? A look at words and phrases that defined 2022

Are you in ‘Goblin Mode’? Have you been ‘Quiet Quitting’ at work? Perhaps you’ve experienced ‘Freudenfreude’ or heaven forbid, ‘gaslighting’? The year 2022 saw a multitude of new words from Oxford Dictionary, Cambridge Dictionary, and of course the teeming masses on social media, enter into our lexicon. Let’s take a look at words that defined 2022 and what they mean: London Bridge While children all over the world know the nursery rhyme London Bridge is falling down, not even many adults were in the know about  Operation London Bridge –  formal plans put in place to deal with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the English head of state. Roe v. Wade In June, conservatives on the US Supreme Court did what many had warned about for years – overturn its landmark 1973 _Roe vs Wade_ decision on abortion, which guaranteed a woman’s right to choose. Perhaps the most important reverberation from this decision took place during the US mid-terms where several advocates of women’s rights either retained their offices or took power. Quiet Quitting This practice, of an employee doing the bare minimum at work rather than resigning their job outright, became the subject of heated debate – coming as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic where many who were stuck at home expressed feelings of stress, physical exhaustion and mental burnout. [caption id=“attachment_11413781” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Many employees stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic resorted to Quiet Quitting.[/caption] Quiet Firing

The polar opposite of Quiet Quitting.

This is experienced by those with the sinking, nagging feeling that the boss is trying to push them out of a job. According to Harvard Business Review, this could manifest in a variety of ways including job responsibilities being reassigned, demoting employees, setting unreasonable targets, increasing workload to impossible levels, forcing an employee to relocate on short notice. Wet lettuce Among many of Liz Truss’ infamous achievements was that the former British prime minister went up against a lettuce… and lost.

The Daily Star lettuce has come out victorious in the battle of the year - to see whether it could outlast Prime Minister Liz Truss in #LizVsLettuce

[THREAD] pic.twitter.com/sP7QDgqcfr

— Daily Star (@dailystar) October 20, 2022

  Gaslighting The Merriam-Webster Dictionary picked ‘Gaslighting’ as its 2022 word of the year. Or did it? The dictionary on its website defines the term as “psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories.” Freudenfreude The word freudenfreude first brought to light by The New York Times refers to finding joy in other’s success. Many Germans took umbrage with the term, pointing out that the word does not even exist in the German language.

The newspaper then ran a correction – which caused much gloating on social media.

If only there was a term for that. Goblin Mode Oxford Dictionary defines its choice for the word of 2022 as “a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations”. The term , which first appeared on social media in 2009, actually went viral earlier this year courtesy of a fake headline from a Twitter user about the break-up of Kanye West and Julia Fox. [caption id=“attachment_11735561” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The word goblin mode went viral after the Kanye West-Julia Fox breakup. AP[/caption] As per Insider, the headline of the news site entitled “He didn’t like when I went goblin mode” received over 1,00,000 likes and thousands of retweets. Moonlighting Moonlighting is what the kids call the side hustle.

In more polished parlance, it refers to taking up a second job in addition to your main work.

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This concept gained ground during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stagflation The term, a portmanteau of stagnant growth and rising inflation, was coined by UK Conservative Party MP Iain Macleod. It became popular in the US in the 1970s at a time of high inflation and economic stagnation or high unemployment, CNBC quoted John Hopkins University economics professor Jonathan Wright as saying. According to a Bloomberg survey of investors, Stagflation poses the key risk to the world economy in 2023, with 92 per cent of those polled expecting such a scenario. Permacrisis Collins Dictionary defined the term as permacrisis as “an extended period of instability and insecurity” – which aptly sums up 2022 for most people, especially Britons. Wordle The game everyone on social media loves – and it seems loves to play and tout their scores. The free online puzzle game made by software engineer Josh Wardle for his beloved became so popular on social media that it was picked up by The New York Times. [caption id=“attachment_10341311” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The game Wordle exploded in popularity in 2022.[/caption] Homer The Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year was in fact inspired by Wordle. The term itself is baseball slang for a home run: the point scored in baseball when you hit the ball, usually out of the playing field, and are able to run around all the bases at one time to the starting base. The term caught fire in May 2022 after it was an answer on Wordle answer – which of course people all over the world were completely unfamiliar with. Armageddon This word was on the minds of many – unsurprising given Russian president Vladimir Putin’s many threats of going nuclear on the West, US commander-in-chief Joe Biden comparing the situation to the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Not to forget our good friends North Korea (who never met a missile test they didn’t like) and Iran (who seemed to be hell-bent on getting a nuclear weapon). Bachelor’s handbag The Macquarie Dictionary [it’s a real thing, we promise] in November announced that a  Bachelor’s handbag –  a roast chicken takeaway in a plastic bag –  has been voted the Australian people’s choice as the new word of the year.

The dictionary defined the term as a “noun Colloquial (humorous) a takeaway roast chicken”.

It explained its origin as: “From the fact that such a chicken requires no further preparation before consumption, so is seen as an easy meal favoured by a single person, and is often packaged in a small plastic bag with a handle, resembling a handbag.” Teal Another one from the pages of the Macquarie Dictionary. The word ‘teal’ emerged as the formal choice of the dictionary committee after the May general elections down under threw up a slew of independent politicians putting front and centre green policies when it comes to the environment mixed with conservative blue policies. Finlandisation This word, which means a policy of strict neutrality, gained traction in 2022 in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It first came to the public eye when Finland adhered to the policy during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the West – hence the term “ Finlandisation .” [caption id=“attachment_11816881” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The term gained traction after Finland adhered to the policy during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the West.[/caption] It refers to a process by which one powerful country makes a smaller neighbouring country refrain from opposing the former’s foreign policy rules, while allowing it to maintain its nominal independence and its own political system. Situationship This one comes from those lovers of dictionaries, and other things, at Tinder.

According to Urban Dictionary, the word means more than a friendship, but not quite a relationship.

As per Mashable, one of 10 Tinder users between 18 and 24 polled in the UK, US, and Australia stated that situationships were preferred as “a way to develop a relationship with less pressure.” From January to October, the app witnessed a 49 percent increase in members adding “situationship” to their profiles. Blue tick The source of, and solution to, all of Elon Musk’s troubles. Musk’s insistence that people ‘pay for a twitter Blue tick’ [technically it isn’t even blue] caused chaos with wiseacres forking over $8 dollars and causing multinational companies to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in market share with their hijinks. As Musk and Twitter enter their new multi-hued phase with gold and grey, it remains to be seen if subscribers can make up the social media company’s advertising shortfall. Oligarch Many people found themselves Googling the word oligarch with regard to Moscow’s invasion of Kyiv – presumably to learn about the role of the rich and powerful in Russia. Denazification This was the among the many justifications offered by Russia’s Vladimir Putin for his invasion – or ‘special military operation’ as he prefers to call it – of Ukraine. [caption id=“attachment_11806071” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Russian president Vladimir Putin has attempted to link Ukraine with Nazism. AP[/caption] Russia has tried to link the country to Nazism, particularly those who have led it since a pro-Russian leadership was toppled in 2014.

This goes back to 1941 when Ukraine, at the time part of the Soviet Union, was occupied by Nazi Germany.

Some Ukrainian nationalists welcomed the Nazi occupiers, in part as a way to challenge their Soviet opponents, according to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial. Historians say that, like in other countries, there was also collaboration. But making the leap from that to claiming Ukraine’s current government is a Nazi state does not reflect the reality of its politics, including the landslide election of a Jewish president and the aim of many Ukrainians to strengthen the country’s democracy, reduce corruption and move closer to the West. Metaverse Oxford defines metaverse as “a (hypothetical) virtual reality environment in which users interact with one another’s avatars and their surroundings in an immersive way, sometimes posited as a potential extension of or replacement for the internet, World Wide Web, social media, etc.” In 2022, Zuckerberg’s struggles with the Metaverse burst into public view – with thousands of employees laid off, the massive investment in the technology resulting in the year’s biggest announcement of “legs” (no seriously) and further pain (read lay-offs) expected. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.