Human material

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Human material was voted the Unword of the 20th Century by the “ Language Critical Action Unword of the Year ” . According to the jury, the choice was made on the basis of the “inadequate coupling of living, human and dead things”. The word human material “appeared as early as the 19th century in Karl Marx's work, but in this century it acquired cynical meaning, not least as a description of people who were 'consumed' as soldiers in the First and Second World Wars. The 'unword of the 20th century' is an example of the tendency to judge people only according to their 'material value' ”.

Uses

The term appeared for the first time in Theodor Fontane's 1852 report Ein Sommer in London in a military context: “The English soldier, as raw human material still incomparable…” Karl Marx used the term critically several times in Das Kapital (1867). Especially during the First World War, there was often talk of the many losses of "war and human material". Adolf Hitler used the term several times in his basic political work Mein Kampf . During the Second World War , concentration camp prisoners who could not be used for work purposes were referred to as "unusable human material".

In 2009, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov called the Roma and Turks “bad human material”.

Even Franz Kafka uses this word in the narrative during the construction of the Great Wall .

Similarly, in professional sports circles - especially against the background that transfer fees are demanded and paid for athletes - coaches and officials often speak of "player material". The word “student material” is occasionally heard from teachers, especially the older generation.

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: Human material  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Unword of the 20th century - human material. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009 ; Retrieved on January 3, 2010 (justification of the Society for German Language for the election to the Unword of the 20th Century).
  2. ↑ https://idw-online.de/de/news17376
  3. ↑ Изказване на Бойко Борисов в Чикаго - емигрантска версия ( Memento of July 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Chicago press conference transcription in Bulgarian
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6j1AEWbjeY
  5. ↑ Mayor of Sofia brands Roma, Turks and retirees 'bad human material' , Telegraph.co.uk, February 6, 2009
  6. ↑ Sofia Mayor to Bulgarian Expats: We Are Left with Bad Human Material Back Home Sofia Mayor to Bulgarian Expats: We Are Left with Bad Human Material Back Home
  7. ↑ Kurt Singer: Words can kill - in the true sense of the word. The taboo: violence through hurtful teacher's words . In: Michele Minelli (Ed.): End of the line school exclusion? About dealing with difficult school children . Haupt-Verlag, Bern 2003, ISBN 3-258-06525-X .