What Does GOAT Mean? How can You Use It?

Doesn’t matter if you’re a sports enthusiast or a casual viewer, you’ve most likely heard the term “GOAT” often.

GOAT meaning is “Greatest of All Time”

The term GOAT stands for “greatest of all time.” If you’ve participated in any online sports talk, you might recognize that the term is used to refer to the greatest athlete in the history of a particular professional sport. Others like to use it to refer to the best currently active athlete on the field. Thanks to its prominence, it has also become a general term for an all-time great at topics outside of sports.

The acronym can be actively found in nearly every facet of the internet where sports are talked about. This does include message boards, social networking sites, as well as video sharing sites like YouTube. It is also used by smaller groups of sports fans, whether in chats or real life. Many sports media outlets adopted the acronym, they frequently write articles regarding whom they think is the GOAT of a particular sport.

GOAT is spelled in the uppercase to avoid confusion with the noun “goat,” that being the animal. It can be spelled out as “G.O.A.T.,”

What are The Origins of GOAT?

It originates from a very unexpected source: a well-renowned professional athlete. In 1992, the wife of pro boxer Muhammad Ali, Lonnie Ali, put together a company called “G.O.A.T. Inc”. This company held together all the assets related to her husband’s image. This was the first notable instance of GOAT being used as an acronym for “greatest of all time.”

The term garnered wider popularity in 2000 with the release of the LL Cool J studio album G.O.A.T. It went platinum, it also reached #1 in the United States, further making the term G.O.A.T synonymous in pop culture.

The mass popularity of professional sports around the world has contributed to the rise in the use of this term and debates surrounding it. It has seen a big increase in usage in the last couple of years thanks to athletes and their dominant performances. Social networking platforms as well as prominent news websites constantly ignite “GOAT debates” to increase viewer engagement.

The GOAT in Sports

During the past decade, “Who’s the GOAT?” became a crucial part of sports talk.

A few examples of athletes who have been referred to as the GOAT of their respective sports include Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Muhammad Ali, Serena Williams, Michael Phelps, as well as Tiger Woods. In 2021, GOAT had a significant spike in Google search popularity. This can be largely associated with NFL player Tom Brady winning his seventh Super Bowl title.

As sports are highly driven by competition between fans, combine with the emergence of online platforms for fans to debate and discuss sports has been contributory in making initialism a part of the common language.

What about the use of GOAT in Other Fields?

Outside of sports, GOAT has become a catch-all term for someone who is the “greatest of all time” in their respective field. For instance, you can say that “Einstein is the GOAT of physics” or “Marlin Brando is the GOAT actor.”

Social media platforms, for example, Reddit have given rise to debates in other spheres of culture. People continuously discuss who is the GOAT musicians, or business executives, or fashion designers, and artists are.

It could also be used in a wisecrack manner to refer to yourself or your associates or friends. You can sarcastically say that someone is the GOAT at something negative, for example, “the GOAT of waking up late” or “the GOAT of not paying attention.” You have the ability to call yourself the GOAT of something in a hyperbolic way, for example, “I’m the GOAT of procrastination.” or “I’m the GOAT of …”

How can you Use GOAT?

When using GOAT in chats or on social media, you need to write it in full uppercase, so that the recipients don’t mistake it for the animal. You can always use the acronym for all the instances where you would have to say “greatest of all time.” If you are in person, it can also be spoken aloud in conversations. You will have to use context clues to determine the type of “GOAT”.

Below we have provided you a few examples of GOAT in action:

• If you are asking for a different person’s take on whom the Goat of a particular field is you can frame it like – “Who do you think is the GOAT of basketball?”
• If you are providing your take on whom the GOAT of a particular field or in general is – “Tom Brady is the GOAT of Football.”
• If you want to be a wisecrack and make sarcastic comments then you can frame them like this- “You’re the GOAT for forgetting to wash the dishes.”
• This is another case of providing your opinions – “I think Charles Dickens is the GOAT novelist.”

The actual truth about GOAT

What has to be kept in mind is that the term GOAT and its usage is a portrayal or a means of self-opinion? Now what I mean is that when you talk about the GOAT of any particular field, the conversation is going to depend on the opinions of the people involved, it’s all an opinion game.

For example, if you were to ask me, hey, Bippin Who is the GOAT of basketball? I being somewhat knowledgeable in basketball and its rich history would say, my GOAT is Michael Jordan. However, it doesn’t need to be the same for you, it could be LeBron James for you, or Wilt Chamberlin for others, as everyone is entitled to have their opinions.

As GOAT is an opinion-based narrative, it is heavily used in sports talk and podcasts, as asking for the watchers’ opinions, generates interest and in turn generates more views. So, if your take on GOAT is different from your peers, though, arguments can be made to support your choices, there is no need to get personal about it.

Now, you know how to use the term GOAT, go out there and have some clash of opinions. If you liked this article (or if it helped at all), leave a comment below or share it with friends, so they can also know What Does “GOAT” Mean, and How Do You Use It?