The german word of the year

Year Word of the year
(German) Etymology
English translation Explanation 1971 aufmüpfig Rebellious, insubordinate Characterization of the 1960s counterculture, especially the German student movement 1977 Szene Scene, community Reference to a number of news-making communities, e.g. drug scene, gay scene, disco scene 1978 konspirative Wohnung Conspirative apartment Reference to the hideout of the kidnappers of Hanns Martin Schleyer, which the police failed to locate 1979 Holocaust Holocaust The original broadcast of the American TV miniseries Holocaust, which led to an increased public interest in Nazi crimes. 1980 Rasterfahndung Dragnet investigation Proposed measures for computer-aided searches for wanted criminals that led to a heated political and public debate about information privacy. 1981 Nulllösung Zero Option Reference to a proposal by then-President of the United States Ronald Reagan for the withdrawal of all Soviet and US intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe 1982 Ellenbogengesellschaft Literally «elbow society», dog eat dog competition Term used by critics who feared a culture lacking social skills was growing, which emphasized egoism, ruthlessness, and competitiveness 1983 Heißer Herbst Hot/heated autumn Reference to a series of large-scale protests against the NATO Double-Track Decision and the strengthening peace movement 1984 Umweltauto Environment-friendly car, low-energy vehicle Reference to one of the topics of the environmental movement 1985 Glykol Diethylene glycol The toxic additive uncovered in a widespread wine adulteration scandal. 1986 Tschernobyl Chernobyl

Reference to the Chernobyl disaster 1987 AIDS, Kondom AIDS and condom The growing media attention paid to the spreading HIV/AIDS disease and subsequent campaign for safe sex 1988 Gesundheitsreform Healthcare reform Reference to the dominant political discussion of that year 1989 Reisefreiheit Freedom of travel

The most prominent demand during the Peaceful Revolution, which was achieved with the fall of the Berlin Wall 1990 Die neuen Bundesländer The new German states

The states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which became part of the Federal Republic of Germany in the German reunification 1991 Besserwessi Compound of besser («better») and Wessi (informal term for a citizen of West Germany), thus resembling the German word Besserwisser («know-it-all», «smart arse») A perception by former citizens of East Germany in the post-reunification period that their lifetime achievements under Communist rule were regarded as inferior and valueless by West Germans 1992 Politikverdrossenheit Indifference to politics Perceived political indifference from decreasing voter turnouts and party membership numbers 1993 Sozialabbau Reduction of social benefits Reference to austerity measures taken by the conservative government of Helmut Kohl 1994 Superwahljahr super election year The environment of perpetual election campaign for politicians, due to a federal election, European parliament election, and eight state elections converging in 1994 1995 Multimedia Multimedia Buzzword used for state-of-the-art developments in computer and digital technology 1996 Sparpaket Austerity package The dominance in political discussions of the time about how to shoulder the immense follow-up costs of the German reunification 1997 Reformstau Literally «reform jam» The perceived political standstill during the later years of the Kohl government 1998 Rot-Grün Red-green Reference to the coalition government of Social Democrats and Greens, led by newly elected chancellor Gerhard Schröder^[3] 1999 Millennium Millennium The term was used as an ubiquitous buzzword in public anticipation of the year 2000^[3] 2000 Schwarzgeldaffäre Literally «black money affair» Reference to the donations scandal of the Christian Democratic Party, with Helmut Kohl as its key figure^[3] 2001 Der elfte September 11 September Reference to the September 11 attacks 2002 Teuro Portmanteau of teuer («expensive», «pricey») and Euro The widespread public perception that the currency changeover from the Deutsche Mark to the Euro had led to a hidden price increase^[3] 2003 Das alte Europa The old Europe A term coined by then U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, referring to European countries that did not support the 2003 invasion of Iraq^[3] 2004 Hartz IV Name of a highly controversial set of reforms of the German labor market^[3] 2005 Bundeskanzlerin Female form of «Federal Chancellor»

Angela Merkel became the first woman to hold the post of German chancellor^[3][4] 2006 Fanmeile Literally «fan mile» Reference to public screenings of the matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which attracted hundreds of thousands of spectators^[3][4] 2007 Klimakatastrophe Climate catastrophe Reference to the worst possible outcome of the global warming, which came to widespread public attention, mainly due to the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report and the documentary film An Inconvenient Truth^[4][5] 2008 Finanzkrise Financial crisis The dominance of the financial crisis of 2007–08 in political discussions that year^[6] 2009 Abwrackprämie Scrapping bonus Reference to a political measure to help the automobile industry through the Great Recession, which saw a bonus of €2,500 for those buying a brand new car and scrapping the old one instead of reselling it^[7] 2010 Wutbürger [de] Compound of Wut («anger», «rage») and Bürger («citizen») – literally «enraged citizen» Stereotype of middle-aged, socially and financially secure people without any previous experience in attending demonstrations, who protest in the streets in an emotional, heated manner (especially characterizing the opponents of the Stuttgart 21 project)^[8] 2011 Stresstest Stress test A reference to a series of unrelated stability simulations: the 2011 European Union bank stress test, a reassessment of nuclear power stations following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, and the arbitration process concerning Stuttgart 21.^[9] 2012 Rettungsroutine Literally «rescue routine» A rarely used term coined by German politician Wolfgang Bosbach, criticizing the series of measures addressing the European debt crisis that passed the Bundestag in a rushed manner, possibly without sufficient debate and consideration of alternatives^[10] 2013 GroKo Acronym for Große Koalition («grand coalition») A reference to the upcoming governmental coalition in the Bundestag, formed by CDU/CSU and SPD^[11] 2014 Lichtgrenze Literally light border

The name of an art installation by Christopher Bauder, tracing the path of the Berlin Wall as part of the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of its Fall. 2015 Flüchtlinge Refugees

A reference to the European migrant crisis, with refugees of the Syrian Civil War and other refugees, asylum seekers and forcibly displaced people arriving in European Union countries, to varying degrees of welcome. In 2015, some 40% of these arrivals applied for asylum in Germany.^[12] 2016 postfaktisch post truth A reference to the increasing tendency to form opinions based on emotions rather than facts in political and public discourse. More and more people are turning so reluctant towards «those on top» that they become willing to ignore facts and accept even open lies eagerly. Not claims to the truth, but openly daring to speak the «felt truth» leads to success in a post-truth age. The Brexit campaign’s thriving partially on deliberate misinformation, as well as discriminatory remarks and untrue claims (such as President Barack Obama supposedly having founded ISIS) leading to the victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election, are cited as recent examples of this phenomenon.^[13] 2017 Jamaika-Aus^[14] end of the Jamaica coalition A reference to the failure of preliminary talks for negotiations a coalition government between the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), Free Democratic Party (FDP), and the Green Party factions, represented by the colors black, yellow, and green, respectively, as found in the Flag of Jamaica, and the public announcement thereof. 2018 Heißzeit «hot time / heat age», i.e. hothouse earth A reference to the 2018 European heat wave, which was considered by many Germans to last from April to November. It is also supposed to hint at one of the gravest global phenomena of the early 21st century: climate change. Last but not least, «Heißzeit» is an interesting word creation – phonologically analogous to «Eiszeit» («ice age»), the expression acquires an epochal dimension transcending the literal meaning of «time interval during which it is hot» and potentially points to a changing climatic period.^[15] 2019 Respektrente «respect pension» «It refers to pensioners being able to enjoy their retirement with dignity after many years of hard work.»»^[16][17] 2020 Corona-Pandemie «corona[virus] pandemic» A reference to the COVID-19 pandemic that affected most of the world and weakened most countries’ economies.^[18] 2021 Wellenbrecher «wave-breaker» A word describing measures which «stop new waves of COVID-19 infections».^[19] 2022 Zeitenwende «historic turning point»

Coined by chancellor Olaf Scholz in his Zeitenwende speech, refers to the Russian war against Ukraine.^[20]

The German Language Society has crowned the word of the year, which a jury in Hesse has decided linguistically reflects the political, economic and social life in Germany in 2022.

German word of 2022

A jury from the German Language Society (GfdS) has named Zeitenwende as the German word of 2022. The term, which can be translated as “sea change”or “era change”, was used by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a speech following Vladimir Putin’s February invasion of Ukraine. In his speech Scholz called the invasion, “eine Zeitenwende in der Geschichte unseres Kontinents” (“A sea change in the history of our continent.»)

The Ukraine war has come to shape much of 2022, not just in Germany’s foreign policy, but the everyday lives of the German population who have been hit by consequential skyrocketing cost of energy and rising inflation. 

Scholz’s Zeitenwende policies 

When Olaf Scholz was elected as Angela Merkel’s successor in September 2021, the SPD politician planned to make little change to the military policy maintained during Merkel’s 16-year chancellorship. Merkel’s government attempted to fulfil the NATO-established target of assigning 2 percent of GDP to defence policy by 2024.

However, when Putin instigated his invasion, the Scholz government had only committed 1,5 percent. With Germany’s armed forces consequently underfunded, amid rising international pressure Scholz had only 48 hours to reimagine the country’s defence policy — his Zeitenwende.

The Chancellor pledged 2 percent of GDP would go to defence funding, although with rising inflation this percentage can only supply Germany with decreasing amounts of military equipment. Another aspect was the leader’s announced commitments was to develop the country’s renewable energy systems.

2022 runners up for German word of the year

The top 10 selected were words which, in the opinion of the jury, have linguistically determined political, economic and social life in Germany over the past year. The majority of this year’s runner-up words were also related to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the ripples it has caused across Germany and Europe. 

“Krieg um Frieden” (War in the name of peace) and “Gaspreisbremse” referring to Germany’s energy price cap — instituted to cushion the impact of the country’s unstable and limited access to Russian gas supplies — took third and second place. 

The 10 German Words of the Year in 2022 are:

1. Zeitenwende (sea change)
2. Krieg um Frieden (a war over peace)
3. Gaspreisbremse (gas price cap)
4. Inflationsschmerz (inflation ache)
5. Klimakleber (climate stickers)
6. Doppel-Wumms (double whammy)
7. neue Normalität (new normal)
8. 9-Euro-Ticket 
9. Glühwein-WM (Glühwein World Cup)
10. Waschlappentipps (energy saving sponge bath tips)

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The Word of the Year was published in Germany for the first time in 1971 and regularly since 1977 by the Society for German Language (GfdS) in Wiesbaden as a linguistic review of the year and has been published in the magazine Der Sprachdienst since 1978 . In addition, an unword has been chosen every year since 1991 ; at irregular intervals also a rate of the year. Since 2008 there has also been an appointment as youth word of the year .

According to the GfdS, words and expressions are selected that have determined the public discussion of the year in question, that stand for important topics or otherwise appear to be characteristic («verbal key fossils» of a year). It’s not about word frequencies. There is also no rating or recommendation associated with the selection.

Between 1977 and 1999 the German word of the year was also the German word of the year. However, as more and more words were chosen that had a pure reference to Germany, the other countries in the German-speaking area began to choose their own words of the year. In Austria this has been happening since 1999 , in Liechtenstein since 2002 and in Switzerland since 2003 .

In 1999, the 100 words of the century , regarded as particularly indicative of the 20th century, were presented in various media.

general overview

year	Word of the year	2nd and 3rd place	Bad word of the year	Set of the year	Youth word of the year
1971	rebellious	Junctim ; environmental Protection
1977	scene	Terrorism , terrorist ; sympathizer
1978	safe house	the greens ; Wrong-way drivers
1979	holocaust	Boat people ; Retrofitting
1980	Raster search	Asylum seeker ; Repair occupants
1981	Zero solution	Summer theater; (salvable) cash
1982	Elbow society	Turn ; center
1983	hot autumn	Public inquiry; Zündi
1984	Environmental car	Formaldehyde ; Envy tax
1985	Glycol	SDI ; EUREKA
1986	Chernobyl	Average ; Super disaster
1987	AIDS , condom	Perestroika , glasnost ; Waterkantgate
1988	Health reform	Seal death; Calf fattening scandal
1989	Freedom of travel	BRDDR; Monday demonstrations
1990	the new federal states	united Germany; 2 + 4 conversations
1991	Besserwessi	transact; Short-time work zero	foreigner free
1992	political apathy	Xenophobia ; racism	ethnic cleansing
1993	Welfare cuts	Location Germany ; Blood scandal	Foreign infiltration
1994	Super election year	Jackpot ; Unword	peanuts
1995	multimedia	Euro money ; Crucifix judgment	Diet adjustment
1996	Savings package	Household holes ; Sick pay	Pensioners glut
1997	Reform backlog	Jerk through Germany ; Education misery	Affluent waste (sick people unable to work)
1998	Red Green	Viagra ; new middle	socially acceptable early death
1999	millennium	Kosovo War ; Generation @	collateral damage
2000	Black money affair	BSE crisis ; Green card	nationally liberated zone
2001	September 11th	Anti-terror war ; Anthrax attack	Divine warrior	«And that’s (also) a good thing!» ( Klaus Wowereit )
2002	Expensive	PISA shock ; Millennium flood	I-AG	«There is only one ‘ Rudi Völler !»
2003	old Europe	Agenda 2010 ; Reform dispute	Perpetrator people	» Germany is looking for the superstar .»
2004	Hartz IV	Parallel societies ; Pisa-battered nation	Human capital
2005	Chancellor	We are Pope ; Tsunami	Discharge productivity
2006	Fan mile	Generation internship ; Cartoon dispute	voluntary departure
2007	Climate catastrophe	Stove bonus ; Smoking bar	Hearth bonus
2008	Financial crisis	gambled away; Data theft	distressed banks		Rotten meat party
2009	Scrapping bonus	war-like conditions; Swine flu	Works council contaminated	«I’m entitled to that.» ( Ulla Schmidt )	hard
2010	Angry citizens	Stuttgart 21 ; Sarrazin gene	without alternative	«The time of Basta politics is over.» ( Heiner Geißler )	Level limbo
2011	Stress test	to leverage; Arabellion	Doner kebab murders	» Fukushima has changed my attitude towards nuclear energy.» ( Angela Merkel )	Swag
2012	Rescue routine	President of the Chancellor ; Education avoidance bonus	Victim subscription	«I lacked the instinct.» ( Peer Steinbrück )	YOLO
2013	GroKo	Protz-Bishop ; Poverty immigration	Social tourism	«The Internet is new territory for all of us.» (Angela Merkel)	Babo
2014	Light limit	Black zero ; Götzseidank	Lying press	«Anyone who wants to live here permanently should be encouraged to speak German in public spaces and in the family.» ( CSU )	What’s up
2015	refugees	Je suis Charlie ; Grexit	Do-gooder	“ We have achieved so much — we can do it! » (Angela Merkel)	Smombie
2016	post factual	Brexit ; New Years Eve	Traitor	«At the moment we have no state of law and order.» ( Horst Seehofer )	be fly
2017	Jamaica-Aus	Marriage for all ; #Me too	Alternative facts	«It is better not to govern than to govern wrongly.» ( Christian Lindner )	i pumice
2018	Hot time	Radio hole republic ; Anchor centers	Anti-deportation industry	«I will not let myself be dismissed by a Chancellor who is only Chancellor because of me.» (Horst Seehofer)	Honorary man / woman of honor
2019	Respectable	Roller chaos; Fridays for Future	Climate hysteria
2020	Corona pandemic	Lockdown ; Conspiracy tale			lost

Word of the year

year	Word of the year	Explanation
1971	rebellious	1970/71 re-emerged in common parlance; Initially referred mainly to the 1968 movement
1977	scene	Stands for various composites ( terrorist scene , sympathizers , supporters scene ) in connection with the German Autumn
1978	safe house	In connection with the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer by the Red Army faction
1979	holocaust	Establishment of the term after the broadcast of the television series Holocaust — The History of the Weiss Family
1980	Raster search	Introduction of the search method due to the terrorist threat of the 1970s
1981	Zero solution	In connection with the debate on the NATO double decision
1982	Elbow society	Stands for the accusation made by the SPD to the new black and yellow government of discriminating against the socially disadvantaged and promoting egoism in society
1983	hot autumn	Description of the protests of the peace movement against rearmament within the framework of the NATO double decision
1984	Environmental car	Discussion about the obligation cars with catalyst technology to produce
1985	Glycol	As a result of the glycol wine scandal
1986	Chernobyl	After the reactor catastrophe on April 26th
1987	AIDS , condom	Growing fear of the immune deficiency disease, which «is about to overgrow all other social fears»
1988	Health reform	Attempt by the federal government to limit drug costs
1989	Freedom of travel	Introduction of the same in the GDR
1990	The new federal states	Because of the reunification
1991	Besserwessi	The Portmanteau word from know-it-all and Wessi is an expression that arose after German reunification
1992	political apathy	Increasing dissatisfaction and skepticism of the citizens towards politics, their representatives, institutions and results
1993	Welfare cuts	Refers to a broad discussion about the reduction of state benefits in the social field
1994	Super election year	Because of the federal election , the European election , eight state elections and ten local elections
1995	multimedia	«Motto for the journey into the ‘brave new media world'»
1996	Savings package	Bundling of measures to achieve a specific savings target
1997	Reform backlog	Keyword used to criticize the failure of political or structural reforms that are considered necessary
1998	Red Green	This coalition first appeared at federal level after the 1998 federal election
1999	millennium	Due to the following year 2000
2000	Black money affair	Uncovering the illegal donation practice of the CDU in the 1990s under the former Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl
2001	September 11th	Because of the terrorist attacks in the USA
2002	Expensive	Felt price increases after the euro -introduction
2003	Old Europe	Statement by US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
2004	Hartz IV	Name for proposals of the «Commission for modern services on the labor market»
2005	Chancellor	After the federal election in 2005 , Angela Merkel was the first woman to be elected to the office of Federal Chancellor.
2006	Fan mile	In connection with the 2006 World Cup
2007	Climate catastrophe	The consequences of uncontrolled global warming
2008	Financial crisis	Global banking and financial crisis as part of the Great Regression that began as the US real estate crisis in the summer of 2007
2009	Scrapping bonus	A bonus for car owners who had their older car scrapped and bought a new one at the same time
2010	Angry citizens	A culture of protest arises out of disappointment with certain political decisions
2011	Stress test	Carrying out numerous such tests in various areas (e.g. banks, nuclear power plants, Stuttgart 21)
2012	Rescue routine	The word was almost never used, but is supposed to describe that «every few weeks […] new (rescue) packages were put together».
2013	GroKo	The abbreviation “GroKo” stands for the grand coalition of the Union and the SPD.
2014	Light limit	Refers to the light installation on the occasion of the celebrations “25 Years Fall of the Wall ” in Berlin.
2015	refugees	In the context of the migration of people who fled the wars in the Middle East to Europe and especially Germany in 2015. The linguists also discussed the different evaluations of the suffix “ -linge ” as a pejorative suffix .
2016	post factual	Made-up word that indicates that it is increasingly about emotions instead of facts and that part of the population is willing to forego the claim to truth, ignore facts and accept obvious lies.
2017	Jamaica-Aus	Describes the failure of the exploratory talks for a Jamaica coalition at the federal level after the 2017 federal election .
2018	Hot time	Term for the extreme summer of 2018 and climate change . In addition, “hot time” is a word formation with a phonetic analogy to “ice age”.
2019	Respectable	From a linguistic point of view, it is about the formation of a new high value word in the political debate, which serves the self-appreciation through external appreciation.
2020	Corona pandemic	«The composition names the dominant topic for almost the entire year.»

Bad word of the year

The Unwort of the Year has been determined by the jury of the «Language Critical Action Unwort of the Year» at the University of Frankfurt am Main since 1994.

Set of the year

year	Set of the year	Explanation
2001	“ And that’s (also) a good thing! «	The Berlin SPD chairman Klaus Wowereit in connection with his outing as a homosexual.
2002	“ There is only one ‘Rudi Völler! «	Celebration song for national coach Rudi Völler after reaching the finals at the 2002 World Cup .
2003	» Germany is looking for the superstar .»	After the first season of the talent show

Youth word of the year

The youth word of the year has been selected every year since 2008 by a jury headed by Langenscheidt- Verlag from those youth words.

year	placement	Youth word of the year	Explanation
2008	1st place	Rotten meat party	Party for people over 30 years of age, over 30s party
2nd place	Screen tan	Pallor of geeks
3rd place	under hopft be	To feel like having a beer
2009	1st place	hard	Being unemployed, «hanging out»
2nd place	bam	Variant of «cool»
3rd place	Bankster	Combination of banker and gangster
2010	1st place	Level limbo	Constant drop in level, parties getting out of hand and senseless conversations among young people
2nd place	Ass fax	Underpants label hanging from the back of the pants
3rd place	Ego surfing	Enter your own name in search engines on the Internet
2011	1st place	Swag	Enviable, casual-cool charisma
2nd place	(epic) Fail	Serious mistake, unsuccessful project, failure
3rd place	Guttenbergen	Copy
2012	1st place	YOLO	Abbreviation for «you only live once»; Request to seize an opportunity
2nd place	FU!	from the English » Fuck you «: 1. Shit, 2. Fuck you!
3rd place	Yalla!	from Arabic: hurry up! Let’s go! Get out!
2013	1st place	Babo	Boss, leader, boss
2nd place	fame	Great, great, famous
3rd place	dignified	Great, cool, casual
2014	1st place	What’s up	When someone is successful or lucky. “You have what it takes!”; cool, blatant; is also used ironically
2nd place	Treat yourself	Have lots of fun with it!
3rd place	Hayvan	Animal, cattle, lout
2015	1st place	Smombie	A suitcase word from the terms “smartphone” and “zombie”. This means people who are so distracted by constantly looking at their smartphone that they are barely aware of their surroundings.
2nd place	notice	derived from Angela Merkel’s government style, do nothing, make no decision
3rd place	to oxidize	Chill , relax, hang out; practically just breathing (absorbing oxygen)
2016	1st place	be fly	Something or someone is particularly off
2nd place	bae	b efore a nyone / a nything e lse, term for best friend or similar.
3rd place	isso	“[It] is so”, agreement , affirmation
2017	1st place	I bims	«It’s me» (in the so-called Vong language )
2nd place	napflixen	Napping during a movie; Suitcase word from the English «nap» (nap) and » Netflix »
3rd place	underage	be old enough to use Tinder ; Similarity to » minor »
2018	1st place	Honorary man / woman of honor	kind person, someone special; » Gentleman «, » Lady »
2nd place	containing glucose	sweet ; Glucose as the basis of sugar , i. S. v. «Containing sugar».
3rd place	bugged	faulty , from English bug = bug, vermin (in the sense of program error ); Usage: «You are really bad [= very / strongly] bugged», «The game is totally bugged»
2019	no	—	In 2019 the choice fell out.
2020	1st place	lost	clueless, lost, lost from English lost = lost, lost, lost; Usage: «You are / I am totally lost»
2nd place	cringe	Term for something embarrassing, a situation or action by a person for which one is ashamed of others . From English cringe = to shrink back, to shudder.
3rd place	wild / wyld	Term for a situation or action that is “too wild” and triggers strong emotions, also means crazy or something special. From English wild = wild, unbridled, exuberant.

Anglicism of the year

The Anglicism of the Year has been selected annually since 2010 by the “Action Anglicism of the Year” under the founder and chairman of Anatol Stefanowitsch from suggestions that readers can submit on the campaign’s website. The winning word must come from English in whole or in part, it must be observed in general linguistic usage for the first time in the respective year and, in the eyes of the jury, fill an important gap in the German vocabulary. The campaign wants to contribute to a better understanding of loan words. It also received international attention.

year	placement	Anglicism of the year	Explanation
2010	1st place	leak	Publish secret information anonymously
2nd place	to freeze / to freeze	Deleting a person from Facebook contacts
3rd place	Whistleblower	Person who makes internal, secret information (mostly grievances) of an organization public
2011	1st place	Shitstorm	Wave of indignation on the Internet, especially on social networks
2nd place	Stress test	Test that measures a system’s response to stress
3rd place	circulate	Add someone to a contact list on the Google+ social network
2012	1st place	Crowdfunding	Raising capital through many small, individual amounts over the Internet
2nd place	hipster	A person who deliberately rejects the cultural mainstream and consciously shows it
3rd place	Fracking	Technology for the production of natural gas and oil
2013	1st place	-gate	Suffix to denote scandals
2nd place	Fake-	Fake, fake, insincere
3rd place	Whistleblower	Betrayer of secrets (crowd pleaser)
2014	1st place	Blackfacing	The change of make-up ( interpreted as racist ) from white actors to black people
2nd place	Big data	Large (unmanageable) amounts of data and their recording mechanisms
3rd place	Selfie	Digital self-portrait (audience favorite)
2015	1st place	Refugees Welcome	Refugees welcome, see culture of welcome and recognition (audience favorite)
2nd place	— (e) xit	Exit / exclusion from a geopolitical unit, Grexit , Brexit, etc. a.
3rd place	spoil	Reveal important parts or even the end of a book, film or video game
2016	1st place	Fake news	Incorrect information, bad news (crowd pleaser)
2nd place	Darknet	Not easily accessible network on the Internet, also used as a metaphor for the negative sides of the Internet
3rd place	Hate speech	Posts in social networks that lie somewhere between sedition and discriminatory insult
2017	1st place	Influencer	Online celebrities influencing their audience, often used for Instagram models (crowd pleaser )
2nd place	Blockchain	continuously expandable list of data records, called “blocks”, which are linked to one another using cryptographic processes
3rd place	nice	as part of the youth language for «nice, good, great»
2018	1st place	Gender asterisk	Gender symbol for gender-equitable spelling with abbreviated terms : pupils
2nd place	Framing	(Audience favorite) Process of embedding events and topics in interpretive grids
3rd place	nice	(Special price spoken language) Part of the youth language for «nice, good, great»
2019	1st place	[…] for future	Phraseologism , derived from the name of the climate protection movement Fridays for Future ; Initially, other movements named themselves analogously (e.g. Students for Future ), later the phrase was also added to other words to suggest climate-friendly behavior (e.g. New Year’s Eve for future , Holidays for future )
2nd place	OK boomer	Sarcastic name of the baby boomer generation (crowd pleaser)
3rd place	Deepfake	Technology based on neural networks to generate or falsify static or moving images

The best immigrant word

In 2008, on the initiative of the Goethe Institute and the German Language Council , a jury selected the word “ clumsy ” as the best immigrant word in the German language. Over 3500 word suggestions from 42 languages ​​were submitted. The initiative met with a consistently positive response in the German press. The jury member and head of the Duden editorial team, Matthias Wermke , said that despite these imported words, he did not believe «that German will differ significantly from the language spoken today in 50 years.» Complaints about the decline of the German language are as old as the German language itself.

More word actions

In Germany, the following word actions not listed here took place or are taking place:

• Most beautiful German word (with section on the most beautiful threatened word )
• Unword of the year (Germany)
• Low German word of the year

literature

• Jochen A. Bär (Ed.): From “rebellious” to “expensive”. The «Words of the Years» 1971–2002. Dudenverlag, Mannheim / Leipzig / Vienna / Zurich (Topic German 4), 2003, ISBN 3-411-04201-X .
• Heidi Friemuth: Altenplage / beef labeling monitoring task transfer law, German dictionary. Gute Gesellschaft, Düsseldorf 2007, ISBN 978-3-9809429-6-6 .
• Oliver Mayer: The “Word of the Year” in the context of political and social events. In: Studies on German Literature and Language (Japanese Society for German Studies, Tokai Section). No. 43, 2011, pp. 89-95. Full text of the article.
• Words tell a story. A historical guessing game of the words of the year. Conceived and designed by students from the Georg-Simon-Ohm University in Nuremberg. Edition Büchergilde, Frankfurt am Main 2011. EAN 4260118010469.

Web links

• Word of the year in Germany, at the Society for German Language e. V.
• Words of the year on the website of Prof. Jochen A. Bär (University of Vechta)
• Set of the year
• Jugendwort in Germany, awarded by Langenscheidt-Verlag

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Word of the Year
2. ↑ Nina Janich: Unword of the year 2011: Döner murders. (PDF; 457 kB) (No longer available online.) Language-critical campaign UNWORT DES JAHRES, January 17, 2012, archived from the original on January 31, 2012 ; Retrieved January 17, 2012 .
3. ↑ faz.net
4. ↑ GroKo is word of the year 2013 .
5. ↑ Nina Janich: Press release: Election of the 24th «Unword of the Year». (PDF) Language-critical campaign Unwort des Jahres, January 13, 2015, accessed on January 13, 2015 .
6. ↑ Speaking German in the family. Sentence of the year 2014 comes from the CSU. (PDF) January 12, 2015, accessed January 13, 2015 .
7. ↑ ^{a b} Society for German Language , press release: GfdS selects “Respectante” as Word of the Year 2019. In: GfdS.de. November 29, 2019, accessed December 3, 2020.
8. ↑ ^{a b} Society for German Language , press release: GfdS chooses “Corona Pandemic” as Word of the Year 2020. In: GfdS.de. November 30, 2020, accessed December 3, 2020.
9. ^ The time of May 1, 1987, online .
10. ↑ Gerhard Müller, Anja Steinhauer: Words of the Year 1995. Comments on the contemporary language. In: The Language Service. 40 (1996), p. 3.
11. ↑ Crisis rhetoric — «rescue routine» is word of the year; in SPON from December 14, 2012, online
12. ↑ GroKo is word of the year 2013.
13. ↑ n-tv.de
14. ↑ «Niveaulimbo» is the youth word of the year. In: Spiegel Online on November 29, 2010.
15. ↑ The youth word of the year has been chosen! jugendwort.de , accessed on December 5, 2011 .
16. ↑ Das Jugendwort des Jahres 2012. jugendwort.de , accessed on November 26, 2012 .
17. ↑ The youth word of the year has been chosen! jugendwort.de , accessed on December 10, 2012 .
18. ↑ Yalla !: Everything about meaning, translation and more. giga.de , accessed on July 16, 2018 .
19. ^ The youth word of the year 2013. jugendwort.de , accessed on November 25, 2013 .
20. ^ The youth word of the year 2014. jugendwort.de , accessed on November 25, 2014 .
21. ^ The youth word of the year 2015. jugendwort.de , accessed on November 13, 2015 .
22. ↑ Language: Youth word of the year 2016 is “fly sein”. In: Spiegel Online . November 18, 2016, accessed November 18, 2016 .
23. ↑ I bims is “Youth Word of the Year 2017”. November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017 .
24. ↑ «I bims» is «Youth Word of the Year 2017». November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017 .
25. ↑ German language: «I bims» is youth word of the year. In: Spiegel Online . November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017 .
26. ↑ Language: From this man comes 1 new language. In: welt.de . June 13, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017 .
27. ↑ Online voting: «Geht fit» or «napflixen» — the youth word 2017 will be chosen. In: shz.de . November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017 .
28. ↑ What will the youth word 2017 be? In: freundin.de . November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017 .
29. ^ Youth Word of the Year 2018. In: Langenscheidt Online. 2018, accessed on November 27, 2018 : «Gentleman, Lady»
30. ↑ Traditional election is canceled — No “Youth Word of the Year” 2019. In: ZDF heute . October 17, 2019, accessed October 20, 2019 .
31. ↑ Langenscheidt: Off for election to the youth word , Nürnberger Nachrichten , October 18, 2019.
32. ↑ Youth Word of the Year 2020 | Langenscheidt. Retrieved September 3, 2020 .
33. ^ Website of Aktion Anglizismus des Jahres ( Memento from February 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
34. ↑ German language finds English voice. In: The Guardian . February 1, 2011.
35. ↑ «Leaken» feels at home in German. In: Der Tagesspiegel . February 1, 2011.
36. ↑ «Shitstorm» is Anglicism of the Year. In: Handelsblatt . February 13, 2012.
37. ↑ «Crowdfunding» is Anglicism of the Year. In: Der Tagesspiegel . March 5, 2013.
38. ↑ Anglicism of the Year, Jury, Berlin, January 28, 2014 ( Memento from January 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
39. ↑ Anglicism of the Year, Jury, Berlin, January 27, 2015 ( Memento of January 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
40. ^ Anglicism of the year 2015 ( memento from January 26, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), January 26, 2016
41. ↑ Anglicism of the Year 2016 , January 2017
42. ↑ Anglicism of the year 2017 ( memento of January 30, 2018 in the Internet Archive ), January 2018
43. ↑ Anglicism of the Year 2018 , January 2019
44. ↑ Anglizismus des Jahres 2019. In: anglizismusdesjahres.de. Retrieved May 29, 2020 .
45. ^ Words with a migration background , Goethe-Institut , 2008.
46. ↑ For example: Freshly Award-Winning: The Best Immigrated Word , Spiegel Online , April 25, 2008.
47. ↑ «Tohuwabohu» is a candidate for the best «import word». In: Der Tagesspiegel . April 22, 2008, accessed April 30, 2019 .

Germans are practical people (they are famous for it!) and they like to give abstract ideas a shape. This presumably is the motivation behind the German Wort des Jahres, or “Word of the Year.”

In 1971, the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache e.V. (Society for the German language) began the tradition of choosing a word that was significant for that particular year. Since 1977, at least one German word has been selected and published annually. This article will present you with an overview of this tradition, as well as some examples of previous winners.

Current Words of the Year

Let’s start with 2015. Which word would you expect to have been chosen? Which was the most important event in Germany, and many other European countries as well? If you guessed Flüchtlinge (refugees), you are correct.

The etymology (or origin) of this word is quite interesting. Very often, German and English words have the same root. The English word “to flee” is an example of this. It is related to the German words fliehen, flüchten, the noun die Flucht (escape), as well as the word of the year Flüchtling (plural: Flüchtlinge). This last one literally means “a person who is fleeing.”

The word was selected due to the massive migration coming from countries such as Syria and Afghanistan to Europe, especially Germany. In 2015, it was the most discussed political topic in the country. In fact, the whole event changed Germany’s reputation in terms of immigration. Prior to this, Germany had never been considered to be a country that a lot of people immigrated to, unlike the US, Canada and Australia. The refugee situation changed this.

As a result, the German population was split into two groups: one that welcomed the refugees and one that reacted xenophobically. It is not clear yet what will be the end result of this process, but one thing is sure: the Flüchtlinge (refugees) have changed the country.

The second Wort des Jahres in 2015 was Je suis Charlie (“I am Charlie” in French). This was the slogan created after the assassination of twelve people in the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The idea was to identify oneself with the people who were killed. Within two days of the attack, the slogan had become one of the most popular news hashtags in Twitter history.

The third one is Grexit (“Greece” plus “exit”). At a certain point it seemed that Greece was about to leave the European Union. This exit was discussed a great deal because it would have significantly changed Europe. However, this word was probably not chosen for its content, but instead for the new type of word formation it represented, which also served as a prototype for several other new words. Examples of these are Brexit (Britain + exit, again from the EU), or Schwexit (referring to football player Bastian Schweinsteiger leaving Bayern München).

Notable past Words of the Year

Another interesting Wort des Jahres, selected in 2010, was Wutbürger (angry citizens). This term refers to “normal” citizens who are angry about decisions made by politicians.

This was the case with Stuttgart 21, a movement supported mainly by middle-class citizens, who protested against the planned upgrade of the main Stuttgart station. Among the reasons for this protest were the exorbitant costs, unclear consequences for the environment, and the excessive estimated time frame of ten years, during which half the city centre would be reduced to a construction site. Although the new train station will still be built, this movement made it clear that political decisions often don’t reflect the needs of the people.

In 2005, Bundeskanzlerin (female chancellor), was chosen. This reflected the important event that occurred in 2005, which was the election of Germany’s first female chancellor, Angela Merkel. However, the reason for this word being selected was not Merkel’s election itself, but the new female form of Bundeskanzler (chancellor) that was created as a result.

In general, Germans are very picky when it comes to words describing people. Usually, there must be both a male and female form. For example, a male university student is a Student, while a female student is a Studentin. This is basically true for all words for describing people, including job titles (Manager/Managerin for example).

However, due to the fact that only men had held the office of Chancellor up until 2005, there was no need for the female version of this word until then. It was simply Bundeskanzler. Therefore, the election of Merkel was significant in that is created a need for this new word.

It’s also interesting because now we have a whole set of new linguistic issues. What about the word Bundeskanzleramt, which translates to the “Federal Chancellery” or the place where the Chancellor works? Do we now change that word to Bundeskanzlerinamt? In this particular case, no, we don’t. Instead, the Bundeskanzlerin still works in her Bundeskanzleramt. Quite undeutsch (not German), isn’t it?

The Unwort des Jahres

It did not take too long until new versions of the Wort des Jahres popped up. In 1991, the Unwort des Jahres was created. While the word Unwort doesn’t exist German, the prefix un- does indicate the concept of “opposite,” often with a negative connotation, such as modern/unmodern, interessant/uninteressant, etc.

The Unwort des Jahres is published by Sprachkritische Aktion (Critical Action Group for Linguistic Expressions). This organisation wants to create awareness of inadequate wordings. They focus on words and expressions that are inappropriate or that violate the idea of humanity.

What would you expect to be chosen as a bad, inhumane word for 2015? The Unwort des Jahres 2015 has already been published. Can you guess what it is? It is Gutmensch. And what does that mean? It means “do-gooder,” used pejoratively to mock those who “do good” by supporting diversity, multiculturalism, and the rights of minorities, etc. So, the speaker actually intends to express the opposite of what he or she actually says.

Other versions of the Word of the Year

Since 2008, young people have been able to vote for the Jugendwort des Jahres (Word of the Youth). For example, in 2015 Smombie was selected, which refers to  somebody who walks around like a Zombie while staring at his or her smartphone.

In addition to this, Austria and Switzerland, which are the other two German-speaking countries, began to feel that they were not well represented in the Wort des Jahres. This led them to launch their own Wort des Jahres and Unwort des Jahres. Specifically, the Österreichisches Wort des Jahres (Austrian Word of the Year) was established in 1999.

In 2015, Willkommenskultur (culture of welcoming people) was chosen in Austria. This word describes the actions and attitudes of the thousands of volunteers that helped refugees find a safe life.

The Österreichisches Unwort 2015 is Besondere bauliche Maßnahmen (special structural measures). This euphemism, which was used by the Austrian Home Secretary, actually refers to the long fence erected at the border with Slovenia in order to keep the refugees out of Austria. Used in this context, it doesn’t clearly state what the intention is behind these words.

There is also a Österreichisches Jugendwort des Jahres (Austrian Word of the Youth). In 2015, the Austrianism zach, derived from zäh (tough, chewy, vicious, sticky), was chosen. It is used to refer to difficulties.

However, it wasn’t until 2003 that Switzerland launched its own Wort des Jahres (Schweiz) (Swiss Word of the Year). The first word that was chosen was Konkordanz (demokratie) (democracy by concordance). It refers to the attempts to involve as many people as possible in the political decision-making process. It is typical of the Swiss tradition of grassroots democracy.

In 2015, the judging panel opted for Einkaufstourist (shopping tourist). Switzerland is said to be a high-priced island in middle of a sea of cheaper surrounding countries. For that reason, many Swiss people travel to the neighbouring countries for shopping. I must admit, I can’t see why this is a good word, but that might just be a Swiss secret.

The Swiss Unwort des Jahres 2015 (Schweiz) is Asylchaos (chaos of asylum). Not many refugees ended up going to Switzerland, so talking about chaos was more to invoke fears than to describe reality.

Now, try to imagine what could be a Word of the Year in your country, and post your answers in the comments below.

Image Sources

Hero Image by Ryan Hyde (CC BY-SA 2.0)

　　China News Agency, Berlin, December 9 (Reporter Ma Xiuxiu) The German Language Association (GfdS) announced the 2022 vocabulary on the 9th, and «Turning of the Times» has become the most popular choice.

　　According to reports, the term is related to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

German Chancellor Scholz has said that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine marks a turning point of the times.

«It’s a threat to our entire postwar order.»

　　The German Language Association stated that in this year, Germany’s economic and energy policies had to be completely readjusted; relations with other international partners such as China were also under scrutiny; Fears and worries about nuclear war in Europe and even World War III.

　　It is understood that the German Language Association has selected annual vocabulary every year since 1977.

A judging panel of linguists selects ten words of the year from among the words and phrases that had a significant impact on German political, economic and social life in that year, and compiles a ranking list.

The selection criteria are not entirely based on its frequency of use, but more on whether it represents the characteristics of the year.

　　According to reports, most of Germany’s vocabulary for 2022 is related to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine or the energy crisis facing Germany.

Among them, «Turning of the Times» became the most popular choice, «Fight for Peace» and «Brakes on Natural Gas Prices» ranked second and third respectively.

　　Previously awarded words of the year include «breakwater» in 2021, representing the protective measures taken to contain the new crown epidemic; «new crown pandemic» in 2020; and «refugee» in 2015.

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