Word of the Year (Germany)

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

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

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

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

general overview

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

Word of the year

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

Bad word of the year

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

Set of the year

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

Youth word of the year

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

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

Anglicism of the year

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

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

The best immigrant word

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

More word actions

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

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

Individual evidence

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