The word of the year (German: Wort des Jahres) is an annual publication by the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache, established in 1971 (on a regular basis since 1977). Each December, a German word or word group is named in a linguistic review of the year.[1][2]
(German)
English translation
Reference to the Chernobyl disaster
The most prominent demand during the Peaceful Revolution, which was achieved with the fall of the Berlin Wall
The states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which became part of the Federal Republic of Germany in the German reunification
Angela Merkel became the first woman to hold the post of German chancellor[3][4]
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.
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]
Coined by chancellor Olaf Scholz in his Zeitenwende speech, refers to the Russian war against Ukraine.[20]
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 |
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1977 | scene |
Terrorism , terrorist ; sympathizer |
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1978 | safe house |
the greens ; Wrong-way drivers |
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1979 | holocaust |
Boat people ; Retrofitting |
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1980 | Raster search |
Asylum seeker ; Repair occupants |
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1981 | Zero solution | Summer theater; (salvable) cash |
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1982 | Elbow society |
Turn ; center |
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1983 | hot autumn | Public inquiry; Zündi |
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1984 | Environmental car |
Formaldehyde ; Envy tax |
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1985 | Glycol |
SDI ; EUREKA |
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1986 | Chernobyl |
Average ; Super disaster |
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1987 | AIDS , condom |
Perestroika , glasnost ; Waterkantgate |
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1988 | Health reform | Seal death; Calf fattening scandal |
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1989 | Freedom of travel | BRDDR; Monday demonstrations |
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1990 | the new federal states | united Germany; 2 + 4 conversations |
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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
- ↑ Word of the Year
- ↑ 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 .
- ↑ faz.net
- ↑ GroKo is word of the year 2013 .
- ↑ 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 .
- ↑ Speaking German in the family. Sentence of the year 2014 comes from the CSU. (PDF) January 12, 2015, accessed January 13, 2015 .
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ^ The time of May 1, 1987, online .
- ↑ Gerhard Müller, Anja Steinhauer: Words of the Year 1995. Comments on the contemporary language. In: The Language Service. 40 (1996), p. 3.
- ↑ Crisis rhetoric — «rescue routine» is word of the year; in SPON from December 14, 2012, online
- ↑ GroKo is word of the year 2013.
- ↑ n-tv.de
- ↑ «Niveaulimbo» is the youth word of the year. In: Spiegel Online on November 29, 2010.
- ↑ The youth word of the year has been chosen! jugendwort.de , accessed on December 5, 2011 .
- ↑ Das Jugendwort des Jahres 2012. jugendwort.de , accessed on November 26, 2012 .
- ↑ The youth word of the year has been chosen! jugendwort.de , accessed on December 10, 2012 .
- ↑ Yalla !: Everything about meaning, translation and more. giga.de , accessed on July 16, 2018 .
- ^ The youth word of the year 2013. jugendwort.de , accessed on November 25, 2013 .
- ^ The youth word of the year 2014. jugendwort.de , accessed on November 25, 2014 .
- ^ The youth word of the year 2015. jugendwort.de , accessed on November 13, 2015 .
- ↑ Language: Youth word of the year 2016 is “fly sein”. In: Spiegel Online . November 18, 2016, accessed November 18, 2016 .
- ↑ I bims is “Youth Word of the Year 2017”. November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017 .
- ↑ «I bims» is «Youth Word of the Year 2017». November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017 .
- ↑ German language: «I bims» is youth word of the year. In: Spiegel Online . November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Language: From this man comes 1 new language. In: welt.de . June 13, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Online voting: «Geht fit» or «napflixen» — the youth word 2017 will be chosen. In: shz.de . November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017 .
- ↑ What will the youth word 2017 be? In: freundin.de . November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017 .
- ^ Youth Word of the Year 2018. In: Langenscheidt Online. 2018, accessed on November 27, 2018 : «Gentleman, Lady»
- ↑ Traditional election is canceled — No “Youth Word of the Year” 2019. In: ZDF heute . October 17, 2019, accessed October 20, 2019 .
- ↑ Langenscheidt: Off for election to the youth word , Nürnberger Nachrichten , October 18, 2019.
- ↑ Youth Word of the Year 2020 | Langenscheidt. Retrieved September 3, 2020 .
- ^ Website of Aktion Anglizismus des Jahres ( Memento from February 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ German language finds English voice. In: The Guardian . February 1, 2011.
- ↑ «Leaken» feels at home in German. In: Der Tagesspiegel . February 1, 2011.
- ↑ «Shitstorm» is Anglicism of the Year. In: Handelsblatt . February 13, 2012.
- ↑ «Crowdfunding» is Anglicism of the Year. In: Der Tagesspiegel . March 5, 2013.
- ↑ Anglicism of the Year, Jury, Berlin, January 28, 2014 ( Memento from January 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Anglicism of the Year, Jury, Berlin, January 27, 2015 ( Memento of January 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Anglicism of the year 2015 ( memento from January 26, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), January 26, 2016
- ↑ Anglicism of the Year 2016 , January 2017
- ↑ Anglicism of the year 2017 ( memento of January 30, 2018 in the Internet Archive ), January 2018
- ↑ Anglicism of the Year 2018 , January 2019
- ↑ Anglizismus des Jahres 2019. In: anglizismusdesjahres.de. Retrieved May 29, 2020 .
- ^ Words with a migration background , Goethe-Institut , 2008.
- ↑ For example: Freshly Award-Winning: The Best Immigrated Word , Spiegel Online , April 25, 2008.
- ↑ «Tohuwabohu» is a candidate for the best «import word». In: Der Tagesspiegel . April 22, 2008, accessed April 30, 2019 .
Слово года (Немецкий : Wort des Jahres) — это ежегодное издание Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache, основанное в 1971 году (регулярно с 1977 года). Каждый декабрь в лингвистическом обзоре года упоминается слово или группа слов немецкий.
Слово года ( немецкий : Wort дез Jahres ) ежегодное опубликование Общества немецкого языка , созданное в 1971 году (на регулярной основе с 1977 года). Каждый декабрь немецкое слово или группа слов упоминается в лингвистическом обзоре года.
(немецкий)
английский перевод
« собака ест собаку»
Ссылка на чернобыльскую катастрофу
Самая заметная потребность во время мирной революции , которая была достигнута с падением Берлинской стены
Земли Бранденбург , Саксония , Саксония-Ангальт , Тюрингия и Мекленбург-Передняя Померания , которые вошли в состав Федеративной Республики Германии в результате объединения Германии.
Гельмут Коль.
Ангела Меркель стала первой женщиной, занявшей пост канцлера Германии
утилизацию
Название в арт — инсталляции по Christopher Bauder , прослеживая путь Берлинской стены в рамках празднования 25 — й годовщины его грехопадения.
Отсылка к европейскому кризису с мигрантами , когда беженцы во время гражданской войны в Сирии и другие беженцы , лица, ищущие убежища, и вынужденно перемещенные лица прибывают в страны Европейского Союза с разной степенью гостеприимства. В 2015 году около 40% этих прибывших подали прошение о предоставлении убежища в Германии .
В слово года (Немецкий: Wort des Jahres) — ежегодное издание Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache, создан в 1971 г. (регулярно с 1977 г.). Каждый декабрь Немецкий слово или группа слов названы в лингвистическом обзоре года.[1][2]
(Немецкий)
английский перевод
Ссылка на Чернобыльская катастрофа
Самый высокий спрос во время Мирная революция, что было достигнуто с помощью падение берлинской стены
Состояния Бранденбург, Саксония, Саксония-Анхальт, Тюрингия и Мекленбург-Передняя Померания, которая вошла в состав Федеративной Республики Германия в Воссоединение Германии
Ангела Меркель стала первой женщиной, занявшей пост канцлера Германии[3][4]
Имя художественная инсталляция к Кристофер Баудер, прослеживая путь Берлинская стена в рамках празднования 25-летия со дня его падения.
Ссылка на Европейский миграционный кризис, с беженцы сирийской гражданской войны и другие беженцы, лица, ищущие убежища и насильственно перемещенные лица прибытие в Евросоюз страны с разной степенью гостеприимства. В 2015 году около 40% этих прибывших подавали заявки на убежище в Германии.[12]
BERLIN Dec 3 The German Language Society (GfdS) has recognized the Wellenbrecher as the word 2021 (literally “breakwater”), which in German refers to all measures taken to combat the spread of coronavirus, according to a press release from the organization. “The word 2021 is a breakwater. This word means everything measures that have been taken to stop the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, “the press release says. A breakwater in the original sense of the word refers to hydraulic structures on the banks of water bodies that dampen the energy of waves in the coastal zone in order to reduce potential destruction. At the same time, in epidemiology in relation to the dynamics of the incidence, the word “waves” is used, which refers to an increase in incidence with subsequent peak and decrease. In Germany, an increase in incidence continues from August-September, which local experts consider the fourth wave of a pandemic for Germany. To “break” the wave, restrictive measures are introduced, which are called Wellenbrecher. Also, GfdS emphasizes, Wellenbrecher can be called a person who complies with such measures. “Become a breakwater!” – gives the society an example of word usage. GfdS emphasizes that how long this term will remain in active use depends on whether the pandemic can be completely suppressed. Traditionally, GfdS released a list of nine more words that were played in the past year a special role in public discussion. In second place is SolidARnost, the name of a charity event to support victims of the devastating floods in western Germany in July. The allocation of the letters AR is associated with the name of the river in the valley of which the greatest destruction took place – Ar (Ahr). In third place is Pfexit, formed by analogy with Brexit, but the first root comes from Pflege (nursing). This word denotes the phenomenon of leaving the nursing profession due to difficult working conditions and low wages, which is one of the central problems in Germany amid the pandemic. “A very interesting choice.” Philologist about the words of 2021 in Russia Other words of the top ten – Impfpflicht (compulsory vaccination), Ampelparteien (parties of the traffic light coalition of Social Democrats, Greens, Free Democrats – party colors correspond to the gamut of traffic lights), Lockdown-Kinder (children of lockdown, used for designation of all children living in conditions of social restrictions), Booster (booster, additional vaccination against COVID-19), freitesten (pass a negative coronavirus test for admission to events or institutions), Triell (triel – a format of an electoral debate with the participation of three people , which was heavily used before the 2021 Bundestag elections), fünf nach zwölf (five minutes after midnight, an expression from the rhetoric of climate activists, indicating that the time to take action is already behind). Last year, the GfdS called the coronavirus pandemic (German: Corona -Pandemie), lockdown and conspiracy narrative became the “words of the year” in Germany. The word “lockdown” comes from the English language and in the context of a pandemic refers to a strict regime of restrictive measures, usually limiting activity outside the home. Although the regime of restrictive measures was not officially called lockdown in Germany and these measures rarely really corresponded to the widespread understanding of lockdown, journalists and ordinary citizens used this borrowed word to describe the measures imposed by the authorities. -0- Cambridge English Dictionary named the main word of 2021
Guten Tag! Today we will look at the Wort des Jahres in Germany. Each year, the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache (GfdS) – The German Language Association – picks a word as their Wort des Jahres – ‘Word of the Year’. This is often a word related to a prominent topic in the country during the year, and is usually interesting from a linguistic perspective, too. The Word of the Year has nothing to do with how often the word has been used, but is more about the word’s significance. What’s great about learning the German Wort des Jahres is that it gives us an insight into Germany’s current events, politics and culture, whilst teaching us some quirks of the language, too. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the Wort des Jahres 2021!
The German Word of the Year 2021 is: Wellenbrecher!
Word of the Year 2021: Wellenbrecher
This word literally means ‘wave breaker’ (die Welle: wave / brechen: to break). Originally relating to coastal protection (der Küstenschutz) and ship construction (der Schiffbau), in 2021 the word Wellenbrecher took on a new meaning in Germany: it was used to refer to all the measures the country is taking to prevent the fourth Coronavirus wave. A person can also be called a Wellenbrecher for taking precautions themselves!
Now here are the runners-up for the 2021 Wort des Jahres, with a brief description of each:
SolidAHRität
In Platz zwei (second place) is SolidAHRität. This word is a reference to the Ahrtal (Ahr valley) flood in Juli (July). It is a mix of the words der Ahr (the Ahr river) and die Solidarität (solidarity). During this flood (die Flut), communities across the country pulled together to raise money and repair the damage caused.
Pflexit
In Platz drei (third place) is Pflexit. This is a play on the word Brexit, but in Germany it relates to nurses leaving the care profession due to bad working conditions and pay. The ‘Pfl’ in Pflexit stands for Pflege; die Pflege is the German word for ‘care’ or ‘nursing’.
Impfpflicht
In Platz vier (fourth place) is Impfpflicht, which is the term for ‘vaccine mandate’. Impfen is the verb for ‘to vaccinate’, while die Pflicht means ‘duty’ or ‘obligation’. The Impfpflicht has been a hot topic in Germany this year; whilst the possibility of this was always dismissed, attitudes have changed in recent months as the country battles to keep Coronavirus cases down and prevent a fourth wave of the virus.
Ampelparteien
In Platz fünf (fifth place) is Ampelparteien, which means ‘traffic light parties’. In September 2021 there was a Bundestagwahl (federal election), which the Social Democratic Party (SPD) won. They went on to create a coalition with two other parties and called themselves the Ampelparteien (‘traffic light parties’) because their party colours are red, yellow and green respectively.
Lockdown-Kinder
In Platz sechs (sixth place) is Lockdown-Kinder, which means ‘lockdown children’. This refers to the problems children have faced during the pandemic (die Pandemie), including problems with schooling (die Schulung).
Booster
In Platz sieben (seventh place) is Booster, referring to the booster jab (third dose of Coronavirus vaccination) which was rolled out in 2021. The official German word for ‘Booster’ is die Auffrischungsimpfung, which translates to ‘refresher vaccination’.
Freitesten
In Platz acht (eighth place) is freitesten, which literally means ‘to free test’. This is a new verb for the German language, which refers to the act of testing oneself for Coronavirus (something everyone in Germany currently has to do if they are not geimpft– vaccinated, or genesen– recently recovered from the virus). This word is a great example of how language evolves in relation to national events!
Triell
In Platz neun (ninth place) is Triell. This stands for ‘Duell zu dritt’ – ‘A duel of three’. It’s a very old term, but it was used frequently in 2021 during the Bundestagwahlkampf (election battle), as there were three main contenders battling it out to win.
fünf nach zwölf
In Platz zehn (tenth place) is fünf nach zwölf, which means ‘five past twelve (o’clock)’. This term is used when it’s already too late to act, and action should have been taken sooner. It was relevant to several critical topics in 2021, including the pandemic and the climate crisis (die Klimakrise).
If you like this post, check out last year’s Wort des Jahres here!
Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!
Happy New Year! 🙂
Constanze
The word of the year was regularly published in Germany in 1971 and since 1977 by the Society for German Language ( GfdS ) in Wiesbaden as linguistic annual review and published in the Journal of the language services since 1978.
Since 1991, a non-word is also elected annually;
at irregular intervals also a set of the year.
Furthermore, since 2008 there is an option to youth word of the year.
Between 1977 and 1999, the German word of the year was however the German language word of the year.
But increasingly common words were selected that had a pure reference to Germany, started the other countries of the German-speaking world to choose their own words of the year.
In Austria, this is done since 1999, in Liechtenstein since 2002 and in Switzerland since 2003.
In 1999, the prestigious for the 20th century as a particularly significant 100 words of the century were presented in different media.
Overview
Word of the Year
Word of the year
The word of the year is determined since 1994 by the jury of » language critical action word of the year » at the University of Frankfurt am Main.
Sentence of the year
Youth Word of the Year
The Youth Word of the Year is selected annually since 2008 by a jury headed by the Langenscheidt Publishing from those youth words that belonged in an Internet poll to fifteen Most elected.
Cooperation partner of choice are the Youth Fair YOU, the youth newspaper and magazine Yaez girl.
This is intended to be constantly changing youth language are documented.
Wolfgang Gaiser by the German Youth Institute says about the choice of youth word of the year: «This has probably more to do with publishing marketing than with social research about what teenagers talk about what young people think with such gimmicks to get attention for publishing products and services.
to bind audiences, is a clever marketing ploy …. If fun formulations are lifted, as if they were the language and thought level of youth today, this distorts the picture of the youth of today. »
Anglicism of the year
The anglicism of the Year is selected annually since 2010 by the «Action anglicism of the Year ‘ proposals, the reader can submit on the website of the action.
The winning word has to completely or partially originate from the English, be observable in common usage in the relevant year for the first time and in the eyes of the jury fill an important gap in the German vocabulary.
The action will thus contribute to a better understanding of loanwords.
She found international recognition.
Most beautiful endangered word
In response to the competition «The most beautiful German word » launched a writer Initiative in December 2006, an international competition for the » most endangered word».
Grand prize was the cheese hedgehog, designed by a visual artist Laura Kikauka trophy, as well as property prices, the Random House and the Berlin job had donated German Dictionary of the Brothers Grimm at the Berlin- Brandenburg Academy of Sciences.
The jury includes, inter alia, the author Jakob Hein and Eve Manasseh.
The aim of the competition was to draw attention to the disappearance of old words from the German language and to create an awareness of language history, explained the initiator Bodo Mrozek: «New and beautiful words will be awarded, but old words have no lobby. » Here, you have to
the subject want to get closer to humorous and creative way — » without the beer seriousness of the cultural pessimists ,» said Mrozek.
The «most beautiful endangered word» was announced in June 2007: » gem «.
The word stands for one thing that was recognizable only at a second glance as something precious of high personal value.
Likewise, it behaving with some words, it said in the jury.
We have chosen ten words.
In second place came to ten, the following terms: blümerant, Dreikäsehoch, refreshment, belly brush, eye star, telephone, cinema, hold, panties.
A total of 2982 entries were submitted, including 2000 different words.
Most common fried fish has been proposed ( 35 times ), followed by outrageous (28) and summer (20).
The best immigrated word
In 2008, chose a jury at the initiative of the Goethe Institute and the German Language Council towards the word «dub » the best immigrated word in the German language.
There were submitted over 3,500 suggestions from Word 42 languages .
The initiative was in the German press consistently a positive response.
The jury member and the head of Dudenredaktion Matthias Wermke expressed that despite these import words » the German in 50 years [ not ] is significantly different from that of today spoken language. » Complaining about the decline of the German language is as old as the
German language itself
The last two years have been pretty much all about the coronavirus pandemic in Germany, and so it’s not surprising that, yet again, a corona-themed word has been named Germany’s Word of the Year in 2021. This time, it’s “Wellenbrecher”.
Defining 2021 by its words
Last year, it was “corona pandemic”. In 2021, the German Language Society (GfdS) in Wiesbaden, Hesse, has chosen “Wellenbrecher” as its Word of the Year.
As GfdS managing director Andrea-Eva Ewels explained, the word is used in coastal protection to describe a protective structure like a groin, a jetty, or a wall — a breakwater or, literally, a “wave breaker”. Over the past year, it has often been used to describe measures designed to protect the population from the coronavirus pandemic.
The word “SolidAHRität” — which was used to describe relief operations in the Ahr valley after the flooding disaster in western Germany this summer — took second place, and third was “Pflexit” — a portmanteau (like Brexit) of the words “care (Pflege) and “exit”, which was used to describe the ongoing care crisis in Germany, with thousands of caregivers leaving work due to difficult conditions or poor wages.
The German Words of the Year 2021
For its list, the GfdS doesn’t just look at how frequently a word has been used, or how popular it is, but instead at how significant it has become over the past year, and the extent to which it reflects developments in society.
This year, the society received more than 2.000 suggestions for its list. 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. In a year once again dominated by the pandemic, it’s perhaps not surprising that a grand total of seven of the top 10 words were related to coronavirus.
The 10 German Words of the Year in 2021 are:
- 1. Wellenbrecher (breakwater)
- 2. SolidAHRität (solidarity, in reference to flooding disaster)
- 3. Pflexit (care-exit)
- 4. Impfpflicht (vaccine mandate)
- 5. Ampelparteien (traffic light parties)
- 6. Lockdown—Kinder (lockdown kids)
- 7. Booster
- 8. freitesten (to test oneself free, under 3G rules)
- 9. Triell (three-way dual, related to chancellor candidate debates)
- 10. fünf nach zwölf (five past 12, i.e. on the Doomsday clock)
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Can one word tell us the story of Germany? If language is a part of culture, what might the significance be of a word chosen by the people of a country to represent the whole year? Let’s take a look at this German tradition and how it has evolved.
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.
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