Worst word of the year

21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard intelligence wing member Jack Teixeira has been detained by the FBI for revealing US military military information online.

The US is talking about 21-year-old Jack Teixerira, who leaked confidential correspondence and documents belonging to the Ministry of Defense…

While the documents, which were noticed to have been leaked to the internet last week, revealed potential security vulnerabilities in the defense of Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, information about the US allies such as Turkey, Israel, Egypt and South Korea were also revealed in the secret correspondence.

However, after the investigation, it was noted that 21-year-old Jack Teixerira leaked confidential documents and correspondence belonging to the Pentagon.

It was recorded that Teixeira shared confidential documents with 25 active members from different countries, mostly between the ages of 20-30, in the online group Thug Shaker Central.

According to the news, federal investigators determined that Teixeira had uploaded hundreds of pages of intelligence briefings to the platform of the chat group, starting months ago, and taught the group members about the importance of being aware of events in the world. “The United States has detained Jack Teixeira, an employee of the National Guard of the Air Force, in connection with an investigation into the alleged unauthorized extraction, storage and transmission of classified national defense information.”

Stating that the detention, carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and law enforcement officers, concluded “without incident”, Garland stated that the case will be heard in Massachusetts District Court.

Garland thanked the FBI, Department of Justice prosecutors and the Department of Defense for their “hard work on the case,” noting that the investigation was ongoing.

The British news agency also quoted the US media as saying that Teixeira was arrested at her home in Dighton, Massachusetts.

According to his service records, Teixeira was serving as a non-commissioned officer at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts. It is stated that Teixeira, who joined the Air National Guard in 2019, works as a “Cyber Transportation Systems Officer” or IT specialist. The leak was first revealed when some members of the group posted parts of the documents on a public online forum.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who previously expressed “concern” about the leaks that shook the Pentagon, told reporters during his visit to Dublin, “As you know, a full-blown investigation with the intelligence community and the Justice Department is underway and they are nearing the conclusion.” he said.

The bad word of the year is a civil society , language-critical campaign that was launched in Germany in 1991 by the Frankfurt linguist Horst Dieter Schlosser . Until 1994, the «Unword of the Year» was chosen by the Society for the German Language (GfdS). After a conflict with the GfdS board of directors, the jury set up its own «language critical action Unwort des Jahres».

Goals and choices

The campaign “wants to draw attention to public forms of language use and thereby promote language awareness and language sensitivity in the population. It therefore directs the linguistic critical view of words and formulations in all fields of public communication that violate factual appropriateness or humanity . ”The naming of the unwords of the year is intended to“ primarily serve as a stimulus for more linguistic reflection ”.

All citizens can submit suggestions for the bad word of the year with a source of the linguistic mistake. “For the selection process of a year, proposals can be made by December 31 of the year in question that correspond to the principles of the Unwort-Aktion. In the first half of January of the following year, a jury selects the ‘bad word of the year’ and any other bad words from all the proposals on the basis of a detailed discussion of the content. ”The decision does not depend on the number of supporters of a proposal.

«Suspicious of a word» are words or phrases that, for example

  • violate the principle of human dignity (e.g. chatter of the moment for cases of abuse in the Catholic Church),
  • Violate the principles of democracy (e.g. no alternative as an attitude / position in the political discussion in order to avoid such an argument and to evade the obligation to argue),
  • discriminate against individual social groups (e.g. through inadequate simplification or blanket condemnation, such as affluent waste as a paraphrase for people who are unwilling to work as well as people unable to work),
  • are euphemistic , disguised or misleading (e.g. voluntary departure as an official term for the only partially or not at all voluntary return of asylum seekers to their home countries from detention centers).

In addition to being up-to-date, the public utterance of the word or formulation, as evidenced by the source, is essential for the selection.

criticism

Many decisions for “ non-words ” have come under massive criticism. Dismissal productivity (in total the word only appeared five times in the national press in 2005) and socially acceptable early death or victim subscription was almost not used, according to the critics, and human capital and I-AG were deliberately misunderstood.

  • Juli Zeh criticized the choice of “ climate hysteria ” as a bad word in 2019, because “evaluating an attitude in a controversial and very, very topical political discussion” puts oneself on one side. If it were a matter of demanding an objective level of discussion from both sides, one would have e.g. B. can classify both “climate hysteria” and “climate deniers” as non-words.

  • Gerrit Kloss criticized in the FAZ that the jury — contrary to its own claim — «created» non-words by giving a meaning in the reason for the non-word of the year 2012 that does not correspond to that which the word had in the original context.
  • Rainer Zitelmann criticizes Tichy’s insight that non-words with a “left or green connotation ” are never chosen.


  • Peter Hahne , long-time editor of the heute-journal, criticizes in his book Be you still with consolation! No more
    language police and bureaucratic terror — the free choice of the unword as a prime example of language police .

jury

Until 1994, the «Unword of the Year» was chosen by the Society for the German Language (GfdS). After a conflict with the board of GfdS, the jury made itself institutionally independent as the “language-critical action Unwort des Jahres”. Since 2011 it has consisted of five permanent members, four of whom are linguists and one journalist, as well as a member who is co-opted every year . The five permanent members since 2011 are Martin Wengeler , Nina Janich , Jürgen Schiewe , Kersten Sven Roth (all linguists) and Stephan Hebel (journalist). Nina Janich is the jury’s spokesperson. Co-opted members were Heiner Geißler (2011), Ralph Caspers (2012), Ingo Schulze (2013), Christine Westermann (2014), Georg Schramm (2015), Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (2016) and the street art artist Barbara (2017).

Horst Dieter Schlosser was the jury’s spokesman from 1991 to 2011.

Bad words of the year

year Bad word of the year Reason
2020 Repatriation sponsorships

Corona dictatorship

For the year 2020, the jury decided for the first time in favor of two non-words.

The EU Commission described a new migration policy mechanism as “return sponsorships” . This term is cynical and euphemistic and is also the result of a discussion about flight and migration that has been morally uninhibited for years.

The word «Corona dictatorship» is used in particular by right-wing extremists to discredit government policy measures of the COVID-19 pandemic .

2019 Climate hysteria The word “climate hysteria” would defame climate protection efforts and the climate protection movement and discredit important debates on climate protection. The expression was used in 2019 by many in politics, business and the media, from the German Association of Towns and Municipalities , the FAZ to entrepreneurs and AfD politicians.
2018 Anti-deportation industry Term used by Alexander Dobrindt in May 2018. According to the jury , the expression imputes those who legally support rejected asylum seekers and who examine deportations through legal channels, the intention of protecting refugees who have become criminals and thus wanting to earn money on a large scale. The expression industry also suggests that this is how asylum seekers are “produced” in the first place.
2017 alternative facts The term » alternative facts » is a «disguising and misleading term for the attempt to make false assertions socially acceptable as a legitimate means of public debate.»
2016 Traitor In particular , politicians (= representatives of the people) who were elected democratically (= by the people ) in parliamentary or official positions were insulted as “traitors” by various groups .
2015 Do-gooder Those who volunteered to help refugees or who opposed attacks on refugee homes were cursed as “do-gooders”. With the accusation «do-gooder», «good citizen» or «do-gooder», tolerance and helpfulness are generally defamed as naive, stupid and unworldly, as a helper syndrome or moral imperialism.
2014 Lying press The fact that most of those who chant it as «concerned citizens» and carry it on banners are unlikely to be aware of the linguistic-historical charge of the expression ( First World War , National Socialism ) makes it a particularly perfidious tool for those who use it specifically ; Use of the term by Pegida in particular .
2013 Social tourism With the catchphrase “some politicians and the media created a targeted mood against unwanted immigrants, especially from Eastern Europe”. The expression joins a network of other non-words that promote this mood […] such as » poverty immigration » or » abuse of freedom of movement.»
2012 Victim subscription One and a half years after his acquittal in the Kachelmann trial, Jörg Kachelmann expressed the view that women in society have a “victim subscription”. The word creation itself, however, comes from his wife. The jury criticized the term for suspecting women “across the board and in an unacceptable way” of inventing sexual violence and thus being perpetrators themselves.
2011 Doner kebab murders The expression is prototypical for the fact that the political dimension of the series of murders has been misunderstood or willfully ignored for years. By reducing it to a snack bar, the victims of the murders would be discriminated against to the greatest extent and entire sections of the population would be marginalized because of their origin.
2010 without alternative The word suggests, factually inappropriately, that there are no alternatives from the outset in a decision-making process and therefore no need for discussion and argumentation. Allegations of this kind were made too often in 2010, and they threatened to increase public disaffection with politics. The term was used from 2009 in particular by Angela Merkel and the then federal government.
2009 Works council contaminated The perception of the interests of employees disturbs many companies; Describing works councils as an epidemic is «a linguistic low point in dealing with wage earners». (The term became known through its use in the ARD . According to an employee of the Bauhaus hardware store chain , it is used by department heads of the hardware store chain when employees want to switch from one of the three branches with a works council to one without.)
2008 distressed banks The term turns the relationship between causes and consequences of the global economic crisis on its head. While the national economies were in dire straits and the taxpayers had to support billions in loans, the banks, through whose financial policy the crisis had been caused, were being stylized as victims.
2007 Hearth bonus Disparaging term for money that parents should receive who raise and raise their children themselves at home and do not want to have them looked after in a day-care center — as a negative contrast to working instead of raising children alone.
2006 voluntary departure Refers to the fact that many rejected asylum seekers return «voluntarily» to their homeland before they are threatened with deportation. In fact, they have no other choice.
2005 Discharge productivity Profits from a company’s production output after dismissing a large number of “redundant” employees.
2004 Human capital The term «not only degrades workers in companies, but people in general to only economically interesting figures».
2003 Perpetrator people Basically unacceptable collective guilt charge ; used by Martin Hohmann as a possible reproach against Jews .
2002 I-AG Reduction of individuals to linguistic stock exchange level.
2001 Divine warrior Name of the Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists themselves and others.
2000 nationally liberated zone Cynical, heroic description of a region that is being terrorized by right-wing extremists so that it becomes “free of foreigners ”.
1999 collateral damage Belittling the killing of innocent people as a minor matter; NATO official term in the Kosovo war .
1998 socially acceptable early death Ironically cynical in a public statement; Karsten Vilmar .
1997 Affluence garbage Description of people unwilling to work as well as incapable of work; Helmut Maucher , Nestlé .
1996 Pensioners glut false, fear-inducing image of nature for a socio-political issue
1995 Diet adjustment Glossing up the diet increase in the Bundestag
1994 peanuts derogatory banker jargon; Hilmar Kopper
1993 Foreign infiltration Pseudo-argument against the arrival of foreigners
1992 ethnic cleansing Propaganda formula in the war in Yugoslavia
1991 foreigner free xenophobic slogan in Hoyerswerda, see riots in Hoyerswerda

More candidates

In addition to the unwords of the year , the jury also publishes other candidates for this unword or second and third placed unword .

year Candidate for the bad word of the year Explanation of the jury
2018 Human rights fundamentalism Term used by the mayor of Tübingen, Boris Palmer, in connection with the refugee debate. According to the jury, the expression shows in a terrifying way that it seems to have become debatable in Germany whether drowning people should be saved or not. But human rights are fundamental rights that need to be defended more than a mere conviction. Boris Palmer pointed out that he was not referring to saving people, but rather to transporting the rescued to Europe instead of Africa.
2018 Anchor center The expression, which comes from the coalition agreement of the grand coalition, denotes special reception facilities for refugees who have a “duty to stay” there until they are distributed to the municipalities or deported or voluntarily return to their homeland. While it was originally an abbreviation (AnKER actually stands for arrival, decision, communal distribution or repatriation ), the expression has become an inappropriate euphemism from the jury’s point of view due to the now almost continuous lowercase and aggregate (= anchor center) , which disguises the complicated test procedures in these centers and also the strict residence requirements for refugees by specifically exploiting the positive associations of the term anchor (including mooring in a port, security, and also a Christian symbol of hope).
2017 Shuttle service The expression was used by Stephan Mayer , the domestic political spokesman for the CDU / CSU federal parliamentary group, when he commented on sea rescue operations by non-governmental organizations in the Mediterranean in the summer of 2017. With the expression “both the fleeing people and, above all, those who give them humanitarian aid are defamed. This help is presented with the expression «shuttle service» as a service that encourages refugees to flee across the Mediterranean in a life-threatening manner. »
2017 Gender madness The expression flatly defamed “efforts to achieve gender equality”.
2015 Homework The word was used as «homework not done» in the discussion about how to deal with Greece in the EU and the not implemented but requested reforms of the Greek government. “In this context, the word degrades sovereign states or their democratically elected governments to underage schoolchildren” and therefore violates the “principles of democratic coexistence in Europe”.
2015 Congestion The word appeared in the title of the book by the author Akif Pirinçci , which was published in 2015. It was named «Gay Unword 2015» by the online magazine Männer and its readers. The jury of Unwort des Jahres agreed with the magazine’s view that the term «represents an explicit defamation of homosexuals».
2014 advanced interrogation methods The expression «is a euphemism intended to legitimize inhuman behavior, namely torture.»
2014 Russia understanding The term criticizes others as “understanders”, is therefore irrelevant and cannot replace the content-related discussion. To make a whole people liable for a political direction across the board and to reduce it to an autocrat with the expression «Putin-Understanding», testifies to a lack of linguistic reflection or targeted defamation.
2012 Broke Greeks The phrase «defame an entire people in an ‘inappropriate and unqualified manner'»
2012 Life benefit pension The term is a «misleading to cynical term for a project in which, under very restrictive conditions, a small additional benefit from the state is promised»
2012 Schlecker women This generally favored term is reminiscent of the word rubble women and was coined as part of the months of reporting on an insolvent drugstore chain and its employees worried about their jobs.
2011 Do-gooder In Internet forums in particular, the democratically shaped expression is used disparagingly to defame those who think differently across the board and without considering their arguments. Although it has been used in this form for over 20 years, it had become more influential in 2011 and thus developed a greater potential as a battle term.
2011 market-conform democracy The formulation by Chancellor Angela Merkel relativizes the incompatibility of the absolute norm of democracy with conformity to any authority. Even if the term is currently used critically, it stands for a questionable development of political culture.
2010 Integration refusers The word put into circulation by the then Federal Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière (CDU) implies that many migrants refused to integrate. In the debates on the topic, the fact that there is no reliable database for such a claim and that the state is still doing too little for integration is mostly ignored.
2010 Chatter of the moment Angelo Sodano , the Dean of the College of Cardinals, had used this phrase in the Pope’s Easter mass. This attempted to push aside the massive allegations of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
2009 Fight against refugees Chancellor Angela Merkel used the expression at a citizens’ forum to denote the defense against refugees at the borders of Europe. The jury said: “It is to be hoped that this does not actually mean military action. In any case, equating a group of people with a negative and therefore to be fought issue is a dramatic linguistic mistake. »
2009 intelligent effective systems According to the jury, the term is trivializing, since it means «exclusively [a] technologically highly developed type of ammunition».
2008 Pensioner democracy The former Federal President Roman Herzog used it to paint a horror scenario in which “the old would plunder the young”.
2008 Karlsruhe tourists In connection with the discussion of the amendment to the BKA law, the chairman of the police union Rainer Wendt referred to citizens who go to the Federal Constitutional Court due to doubts about the constitutionality of laws. This was seen as a questionable understanding of fundamental rights.
2007 climate neutral The attempt to use this term to advertise an expansion of air traffic or an increase in other CO 2 -containing technologies without making it clear how these climate impacts should be «neutralized» is criticized .
2007 degenerate Paraphrase for the development of modern art and culture without religious ties, conceptual proximity to the term degenerate art under National Socialism; Cardinal Joachim Meisner
2006 Consumption sacrifice Description of models who have to live up to an ideal of beauty in consumer society by losing weight.
2006 Envy debate Defamation of the public discussion about excessive manager salaries
2005 honour killing unacceptable appeal to an archaic “family honor” to justify the murder of a mostly female family member
2005 Bomb holocaust controversial, used mostly by right-wing extremists paraphrase of the Bombing of Dresden in World War II, the reference to the Holocaust takes
2005 Longevity risk Insensitive technical term for the insurance risk that arises from the fact that insured persons live longer than calculated, see also «death bonus»
2004 Welcome centers linguistic belittling of reception camps for African refugees; this word formation is congenial to the already official name «Ausreisezentrum» for deportation detention centers
2004 Air pollution rights Not only ecological absurdity, the word also helps to consider “greenhouse gas emissions” as harmless because their trade is regulated by law
2003 Offer optimization Glossing over service reductions, such as the closure of railway lines; similar to «mailbox optimization»
2003 Dissenters Discrimination against members of the Bundestag who made decisions of conscience over parliamentary groups or coalitions
2002 Departure center Official term for collective camps from which rejected asylum seekers are deported
2002 Clusters of cells linguistic reification of biotechnicians for a human embryo
2001 crusade pseudo-religious trimmings of military retaliation; US President George W. Bush
2001 Top terrorist trivializing and positively naming Osama bin Laden
2001 therapeutic cloning Doubtful combination of words to justify manipulation of the human genome against diseases or for therapies in the foreseeable future
2001 Profit warning A factually incorrect term used by shareholders that warns of lower profits than expected
2000 over-capacity employees Reducing the number of workers to be laid off to purely economic sizes
2000 Mechanically separated meat Serious sounding description of slaughterhouse waste that is particularly inappropriate when BSE is suspected
2000 «Dirt away!» CDU slogan in Darmstadt, which was also directed against “unpopular” people
2000 Old workforce Waste metaphor for employees that a company would like to get rid of
2000 Human capital as a designation of children
2000 Moral club Fatal coupling of “morality” and a manslaughter instrument; Martin Walser
2000 Post information Euphemism of the Hessen CDU regarding the belated admission of further details in the CDU donation affair , which had previously been vehemently denied
1997 Organ donation Perversion of the terms «donation / donate» in transplant medicine
1997 Blockade politics / politicians defamatory assumption of an attitude of refusal without argument
1997 new parenting Bureaucratic description of new legal guardians who should take the place of the biological parents
1996 Flexibility Term for a business strategy that denies the value of active individual “flexibility”, but exploits this term in a whitewashed way
1996 Outsourcing Imposing word that tries to give the outsourcing of jobs a serious look
1996 Reconstruction of the welfare state improper use of a construction metaphor.
1996 Health reform misuse of the positive term «reform»
1996 Social hygiene highly problematic application of ideas of hygiene to social issues; cf. «Racial hygiene», «ethnic cleansing»
1995 Plague of the elderly Insult to the older generation
1995 biodegradation Cynicism for leaving work
1995 socially acceptable job cuts whitewashing paraphrase for dismissals
1995 to torch (of things and people) Young language cynical equation
1994 Higher earners Pseudo definition for new government revenue streams
1994 Dark Germany Ironism for eastern federal states 1
1994 Bush allowance Salary allowance for so-called construction workers in the eastern federal states 1
1994 Releases for layoffs 1
1993 collective amusement park Assumption of a socio-political wishful thinking; Helmut Kohl
1993 Social corpses Deceased who come from utter impoverishment; Car crash test objects
1993 lean production (with further variants) Corporate strategy with job destruction
1993 Selection residue For severely disabled children who cannot be integrated into “normal classes”
1992 soft targets Military paraphrase for unarmored targets, but often also used (mis) for people
1992 clap up / down physical and fatal attacks on foreigners
1992 Measures terminating residence Deportations in the so-called asylum compromise ; GG Art. 16a
1992 Sympathy tourism for memorial rallies on the occasion of the Mölln murders
1991 raced society Mixture of Germans with foreigners; from an interview with Edmund Stoiber
1991 intelligent weapon systems from Gulf War coverage
1991 Personnel disposal for layoffs
1991 holding pattern Phase of social insecurity among workers in the eastern federal states

1 Specifically chosen as evidence of “linguistic humiliation” with a view to particular topicality in the eastern federal states.

Unword of the century

century Unword of the century Reason
20th century Human material The human being is thus only viewed as a thing, which was particularly evident in the context of the First and Second World War , when a large number of people were used in warfare.

Stock market news of the year

Since 2001, the determined exchange Dusseldorf the Börsenunwort of the year :

See also: Stock exchange news of the year (Austria)

year Stock market news of the year Explanation of the jury
2020 Corona winner “The term corona winner quickly became common on the stock market for those profiting from the crisis, for example in the business fields of delivery services, video conferences, or streaming / gaming […] Success is granted to everyone who has the right idea at the right time right place. But to be celebrated as profiting from an external event with such far-reaching consequences for the economy, society and health seems at least cynical. »
2019 Financial transaction tax “The stock market brokers, securities dealers and trading center employees see the term as a classic fraudulent label. The project to introduce a financial transaction tax, which was pushed by the Federal Minister of Finance last year, is, on closer inspection, rather a penalty on share transactions in European blue-chip values. […] «.
2018 America first “This national egoism temporarily stimulated the US economy in the past year, but at the same time swirled up the previous world economic order. The achievements of free trade and globalization have been replaced by increasing uncertainty ”.
2017 Bitcoin boom In the past year, this term often caused disbelief in shaking their heads, as did the stimulus words Bitcoin , Blockchain , Crypto or “ Initial Coin Offering ”.
2016 Asset crisis Classic investment models hardly promise any interest returns. The negative connotation of the basic word emergency is criticized .
2015 Interest rate reversal Investors have been waiting for the interest rate turnaround, which is regularly announced, for years. However, this maneuver has not yet been carried out.
2014 Credit fee The term should suggest something positive to the customer, in fact it means nothing more than penalty interest .
2013 cheap money The connection of a valuable noun with a derogatory adjective is criticized.
2012 voluntary haircut It was criticized that the haircut in Greece more or less expropriated many private investors, even though they were excluded from the negotiations.
2011 Euro summit Particularly criticized are the small effects of the individual peaks as well as their large number, contrary to the properties of a mountain peak.
2010 Euro rescue package It would have been more correct to speak of a temporary emergency credit line for countries that are over the ears in debt.
2009 Bad bank It is difficult for the public to understand that an apparently bad bank is founding another bad bank and that this should be a good solution to the problems of the financial crisis.
2008 Short sale Is misleading because it gives rise to fears that short sales could take place without any “content”. Every seller, however, must have the security, possibly a loaned one, in the custody account because he has to meet his delivery obligation towards the buyer within two days on the cash market.
2007 Subprime Subprime translates as “below the top” and is therefore a euphemism for risky investor products. In the summer of 2007 there was a subprime crisis in connection with the real estate market .
2006 Stock market guru “First of all, the term itself is misleading, as there can be no gurus on the stock exchange. In the original sense of the word, based on Hindu teaching, gurus act as omniscient prophets who are supposed to lead to more enlightenment — that contradicts the nature of the stock market. »
2005 Grasshoppers The sentence by SPD leader Franz Müntefering of «anonymous financial investors who attack companies like swarms of locusts, graze on them and move on» creates a completely wrong picture of this group of investors.
2004 Sideways movement The word is completely nonsensical. Because a “sideways movement” on the stock market “always takes place when nothing is moving”, which means de facto stagnation . The term was coined by chart technicians, presumably in order to gain some momentum from the standstill.
2003 best price
2002 Enronitis Enronitis equates the misconduct of a few on the stock market with an epidemic-like disease course like an epidemic — a blatant mistake. The term arose from the balance sheet falsification scandal of the American energy trader Enron , which surprised the stock exchanges in February 2002. When further cases became known in the course of tightened controls, the word enronitis was soon circulating as a synonym for the loss of confidence among investors. »
2001 Profit warning Abbreviated term for a missed target warning

More words of the year

country word Unword
Switzerland Word of the Year (Switzerland) Unword of the year (Switzerland)
Germany Word of the Year (Germany) Unword of the year (Germany)
Liechtenstein Word of the year (Liechtenstein) Unword of the year (Liechtenstein)
Austria Word of the Year (Austria) Unword of the year (Austria)

literature

  • Society for the German language (ed.): Words and non-words. Meaningful and nonsensical in contemporary German . Falken-Verlag, Niedernhausen 1993, ISBN 3-8068-1401-5 .

Web links

  • Website of the Unwort des Jahres campaign
  • Horst Dieter Schlosser: Unword of the year. Goethe University Frankfurt , accessed on April 27, 2010 (information on a language-critical campaign).
  • DWDS trend curve «Unwort»

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Klaus Jeziorkowski: Fine society. Kohldeutsch: Unworthy of the Chancellor’s bad word. In: The time . March 11, 1994, accessed January 12, 2015 .
  2. a b Heinz-Jörg Graf: The Unwort-complaint. Deutschlandradio Kultur , January 24, 2007, accessed on January 12, 2015 .
  3. a b c d principles. unwortdesjahres.net, accessed on January 12, 2015 (language- critical campaign “Unwort des Jahres”).
  4. a b The selection process for non-words. unwortdesjahres.net, accessed on January 12, 2015 (language- critical campaign “Unwort des Jahres”).
  5. Unword of the year: “Victim subscription”? Kachelmann thinks well . In: Spiegel online . Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  6. Press release «Unelection of the Year 2005» .
  7. ^ Saarland University: Prof. Christian Scholz on the choice of the word «human capital» for the unword 2004 . Press release from January 20, 2005.
  8. Post in Germany radio on January 21, 2020 presented in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung on 23 January 2020 www.nzz.ch .
  9. Home page of the language critical campaign Unwort des Jahres.
  10. Gerrit Kloss: Did Jörg Kachelmann invent the “victim subscription”? In: FAZ. January 23, 2013, Department: Nature and Science, p. N5.
  11. Rainer Zitelmann: The “bad word of the year” is nonsense. In: Tichy’s insight . January 14, 2020, accessed January 17, 2020 .
  12. Peter Hahne: Are you still very consoled! No more language police and bureaucratic terror. Quadriga 2020, p. 120, ISBN 978-3869950969 .
  13. The history of the Unwort campaign: The jury members , online on the page http://www.unwortdesjahres.net .
  14. «Alternative facts» is the bad word of 2017. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. January 16, 2018, accessed January 16, 2018 .
  15. Don’t worry about bad mail. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . March 4, 2011.
  16. a b The previously chosen non-words. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016 ; accessed on January 14, 2020 .
  17. Unwort des Jahres 2020 , accessed on January 12, 2021 (PDF; 222 kB).
  18. City and Municipal Association warns of «climate hysteria»
  19. www.unwortdesjahres.net (PDF; 199.64 kB).
  20. unwortdesjahres.net
  21. «Alternative facts» is the bad word of 2017. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. January 16, 2018, accessed January 16, 2018 .
  22. ^ Language criticism: “Traitor of the people” is the bad word of the year. In: Spiegel online. January 10, 2017, accessed January 10, 2017 .
  23. Language criticism: “Do-gooder” is the bad word of the year. In: Spiegel online. January 12, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2016 .
  24. Language criticism: «Lügenpresse» is the bad word of the year. In: Spiegel online. January 13, 2015, accessed January 12, 2016 .
  25. “Social tourism” is the bad word of the year. In: Süddeutsche.de . January 14, 2014, accessed January 12, 2016 .
  26. Florian Rötzer: «Social tourism» as a bad word of the year 2013. In: Telepolis . January 15, 2014, accessed January 12, 2016 .
  27. twitter.com
  28. a b c press release: Unwort des Jahres 2011 ( Memento from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). (PDF; 458 kB). 17th January 2012.
  29. Discriminatory term: How the term “kebab murders” came about. In: Spiegel online. July 4, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2012.
  30. No alternative” is the bad word of the year. ( Memento from January 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) In: Tagesschau. January 18, 2011.
  31. ^ Süddeutsche Zeitung, low point in a hardware store , January 19, 2010.
  32. Financial Times Deutschland ( Memento from June 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  33. Monitor article from May 14, 2009, in which the term was mentioned for the first time. ( Memento from May 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  34. Tagesschau.de , “Not suffering banks” is “Unword of the year” ( Memento from January 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) , January 20, 2009.
  35. stern.de , Unwort des Jahres , January 19, 2007.
  36. ^ Human capital , Unword of the year.
  37. Boris Palmer coined a “bad word of the year” and is annoyed. In: Welt Online . January 15, 2019, accessed January 15, 2019 .
  38. a b Stock market unword 2017: «Bitcoin Boom». Boerse Düsseldorf, January 16, 2018, retrieved on January 16, 2018 (Previous stock market unwords: «Anlagenotstand» (2016), «Zinswende» (2015), «Credit fee» (2014), «Cheap money» (2013), » Voluntary debt cut ”(2012),“ Euro summit ”(2011),“ Euro rescue package ”(2010),“ Bad Bank ”(2009),“ Short sale ”(2008),“ Subprime ”(2007),“ Stock exchange Guru «(2006),» Locusts «(2005),» Sideways Movement «(2004),» Best Price «(2003),» Enronitis «(2002),» Profit Warning «(2001)).
  39. Düsseldorf Stock Exchange: “Corona-Winner” is stock exchange nonsense 2020. (PDF; 85 KB) Düsseldorf Stock Exchange , January 12, 2021, accessed on January 13, 2021 (press release).
  40. ‘Financial transaction tax’ is the stock market bullshit of 2019. Düsseldorf Stock Exchange , January 14, 2020, accessed on January 30, 2020 (press release).
  41. «America first» is stock market nonsense of the year 2018. Düsseldorf Stock Exchange , January 15, 2019, accessed on March 25, 2019 (press release).
  42. «Bitcoin Boom» is the stock market bullshit of the year. Düsseldorf Stock Exchange , January 10, 2018, accessed on January 6, 2018 (press release).
  43. Stock exchange nonsense 2016: «Anlagenotstand». Düsseldorf Stock Exchange , January 10, 2017, accessed on June 6, 2017 (press release).
  44. Stock exchange nonsense 2015: «Zinswende». Düsseldorf Stock Exchange , January 12, 2016, accessed on January 12, 2016 (press release).
  45. Börsen-Unwort 2014: «Credit fee» — press releases. In: Boerse-duesseldorf.de Düsseldorf Stock Exchange . January 8, 2015, accessed January 13, 2015 .
  46. Stock exchange nonsense of the year: “Voluntary debt cut” is stock exchange nonsense in 2012. wallstreet-online.de, accessed on January 20, 2013 .
  47. Press release: Stock market bullshit 2011 — “Euro Summit” , January 17, 2012.

Term for forcible expulsion beats ‘language police’ and misused Nazi terms to the award

This Iraqi family said they had been pushed back to Belarus eight times during the crisis at the EU's eastern border. AFP

This Iraqi family said they had been pushed back to Belarus eight times during the crisis at the EU’s eastern border. AFP

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Pushbacks – the forcible expulsion of migrants – gained further notoriety this week when the term was crowned Germany’s worst word of 2021.

A jury of writers and linguists selected the term, adopted as an English loan word in German, because it “sugar-coats an inhumane process” in which people are banished from Europe’s borders.

The word was used by activists, politicians and the media to describe claims of migrants being sometimes violently chased across borders, including by guards in Poland and Belarus, men armed with batons in Croatia and sea patrols in Greece.

The practice was blamed by name this week for an escalation in Mediterranean migrant deaths in 2021 which led to an average of five people per day drowning or disappearing in the sea.

But the German panel objected that “the use of this term hides the violence and sometimes deadly consequences that can be associated with forcing migrants away”.

It criticised the fact that even critics of pushbacks used the term, after rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Council of Europe condemned the practice by that name.

The government’s former chief spokesman Steffen Seibert used the expression last October when he denied that German police had been involved in pushbacks, despite reports to the contrary.

A Polish border guard patrols with a dog at the freezing Belarusian border. EPA

A Polish border guard patrols with a dog at the freezing Belarusian border. EPA

The term was chosen as “Non-Word of the Year” ahead of other contenders such as “language police”, deemed an unfair attack on people calling for inclusive terminology.

The jury also criticised the use of Nazi terminology by people making far-fetched comparisons between Germany’s darkest chapter and today’s coronavirus restrictions.

These included the use of the term “vaccine Nazi” for supporters of immunisation and “Enabling Act” for German health laws, alluding to a 1933 statute that gave sweeping powers to Hitler’s regime.

Some unvaccinated protesters wore yellow badges recalling the Star of David that Jew were forced to wear under the Nazis. The anti-vaccine protest scene has attracted scrutiny from German intelligence services.

Examples such as these constituted a “mockery of the victims of the Nazi dictatorship”, said the linguistic hall of shame panel.

There were more than 1,300 submissions for the award. A word may be eligible for censure because it offends human rights or democracy or is used as a jarring euphemism.

Previous winners included “climate hysteria” as a way of sneering at green initiatives and “collateral damage” as a euphemism for civilian deaths.

Updated: January 13, 2022, 2:50 PM

So, I was a feeling a little out of sorts at the end of 2019. While everyone was having their social media ‘soul pours’ about the decade now past and the one to come—while my sons were setting their goals and solidifying their action plans (thanks to an awesome Daddy)— I was pretty quiet.

Resolutions have never been my thing, and though I am task oriented, until recently I didn’t consider myself goal oriented at all. The part of my brain that wants to be spontaneous and creative rails against that kind of ‘bondage’; while the uber-organised, chichi, upper east end of my mindscape (you know, the side that took several seats the moment I had children) gazes wistfully into others’ more disciplined lives and longs to be more intentional.

What’s that have to do with this ‘Word of the Year’ thing?

I’m glad you asked. I first read about the Word of the Year concept in one of many emails I’m still to hit unsubscribe on. The concept was interesting but limiting, I thought. Forgo a bunch of resolutions for one carefully chosen focus word, and let it lend influence and direction to my year. Sounded like less pressure, but how in the world could I choose one word that would go with me throughout an entire year?

Well I couldn’t, and I forgot about it. . . but it became clear one had chosen me. Through a chain of events I realised God was speaking, though I wasn’t sure I liked what He was saying. Everything pointed to a word I would never have chosen for myself, and that simple word was Discomfort. Not Grace, or Courage, or Double Fudge Brownie, but possibly the worst word of the year ever. Cue fireworks.

My Word of the Year for 2020 is . . . Discomfort.

@itspronouncedtao

It turns out discomfort is not as weird a word as I thought. I was this night old when in researching for this post, I found another blogger who used it in 2017. She has some great tips for choosing your own word by the way, and 100 suggestions in case you’re not dictionary friendly. But Ms. Elizabeth McKnight is nothing if not hardcore. She followed up in 2018 with the word Discipline. Oy vey!

One tip that allows both sides of my brain to peacefully coexist is:

Keep [your word] in the forefront of your mind and use it to set smaller monthly goals throughout the year.

Elizabeth McKnight

I find that really useful. I’ve also used it as momentum when I feel afraid to take a leap, or am tempted to think more about myself than others.

So what is this all going to look like?

Of course for everyone it will be something different. God cast vision before me as we chatted about the whole situation. It was really important for me to understand what He meant by “2020 is not a comfort year.” Maybe you’ll see something you recognise here, or you might even consider choosing this word for yourself now we’ve made it through these 20 weeks of January. I’ll speak like you’re along for the ride (you brave soul, you!):

  • It’s a year for making ourselves uncomfortable in order to love others well. 
  • It’s a year for being uncomfortable when we are not loving God well. 
  • It’s a year for seeing discomfort as God loving us well. 
  • It’s a year where we will be invited out of our comfort zones. 
  • It’s a year where circumstances will force us out of our comfort zones. 
  • It’s a year for allowing God’s voice to be our chief comfort. 
  • It’s a year for proving that His comfort will satisfy in our discomfort, and most of all,
  • Our level of comfort with discomfort will determine our level of growth and impact in 2020. 

Our level of comfort with discomfort will determine our level of growth and impact in 2020. 

Tweet

In practical terms, so far it’s been looking like this.

  • Committing to one or two projects and jumping in head first without knowing exactly how I would accomplish them.
  • Starting the year with a 21 day fast.
  • Attending an event I cringed at the thought of being at, because of what my presence would mean to someone special.
  • Sticking to the one year plan in my Read Scripture app no matter how tired I am.
  • Putting my money where my heart is.
  • Constructing new beliefs about myself and continually weeding out the old.
  • Trying out natural deoderant for the first time. (Wanna hear about it?)
  • Making intentional time for what I deem as priorities.
  • Expanding my skill set so I can better serve others.
  • Staying up till 3am to write this post because I’m a master procrastinator with a minimum one post a month goal this year 🙂

And also many other more sensitive things, because a word like discomfort often works itself out in ways that are deeply personal.

It still feels like a good word, somehow

It’s a hard word, but it’s a good word. Really, it’s nothing too out of the ordinary. A measure of discomfort is necessary for any life that would be extraordinary; it’s par for the course for anyone that wants to make a lasting impact.

A measure of discomfort is necessary for any life that would be extraordinary…

@ITSPRONOUNCEDTAO

I heard my husband, Dwayne, say once that “you don’t [build your] faith in comfort zones. A crisis brings the best out of people, and sometimes the worst.” In his Leader Ecology training series he puts it something like this “Discomfort challenges you to be honest with yourself. It helps you see God and also see yourself. It’s that catalytic ingredient that can launch you into purpose.” 

“Discomfort . . .[is] that catalytic ingredient that can launch you into purpose.” 

@dwayneohoward of Awake The Flame Ministries

And I think that’s what’s happening here. It’s only been a month and I can already see evidence of this word shaping my narrative in ways I didn’t even foresee. I’ve been comfortable with the way I think and the things I believe about myself. Now it’s time to get uncomfortable with any thoughts that contradict growth or hinder purpose.

This is how Sam Alberry says it,

In the process of denying yourself, you become yourself.

Sam Alberry

And I might just be comfortable with that.


One thought, one question

If you’re willing to embrace the difficult with me, but dread it all at the same time, another of my posts called Degrees of Separation might be worth the read. I write about how “embracing present stress grants sooner access to satisfaction”. It’s a quick read, I promise.

Now, what about you . . . if you have, or were to choose one word to frame your 2020, what would it be? I’d love to hear from you.

P.S. If you liked this blog then you might like this curated newsletter I’m keen to start. It’s going to be a little bag of my kind of magic straight to your inbox ever so often, but I promise I’ll tell you more about that soon. Interested in signing up?


Photo by MARK ADRIANE. Thanks Mark!

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