un-word of the year
{{Short description|German ironic award}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
Un-word of the year ({{langx|de|link=no|Unwort des Jahres}}, {{IPA|de|ˈʊnˌvɔʁt dɛs ˈjaːʁəs|pron|De-Unwort_des_Jahres.ogg}}) is an annual selection of one new or recently popularized term that allegedly violates human rights or infringes upon democratic principles, made by a panel of German linguists. The term may be one that discriminates against societal groups or may be euphemistic, disguising or misleading. The term is chosen from suggestions sent in by the public. The choice of the word does not depend on how many times it was suggested, but reflects the judgement of the panel. The core of the panel consists of four linguists and one journalist. The un-word of the previous year is announced every January.{{cite news|title=Wird Pegida das "Unwort des Jahres"?|url=http://www.merkur-online.de/politik/begriff-pegida-vorschlagsliste-unwort-jahres-zr-4595014.html|access-date=16 January 2015|work=Muenchner Merkur|date=1 January 2015}}
The linguistic action was started in 1994 by the linguist {{Ill|Horst Dieter Schlosser|de}}. The yearly publication of the "un-words of the year" is today widely reported in German media and very popular among Germans. In 2007, the president of the German PEN association, Johano Strasser, criticized the selections as being "themselves a symptom of the language neglect that it pretends to be able to heal" and having the quality of Deutschland sucht den Superstar (a popular German talent show).{{cite web|title=Unwort des Jahres beleidigt viele Eltern|url=https://www.welt.de/kultur/article1555921/Unwort-des-Jahres-beleidigt-viele-Eltern.html|publisher=Die Welt|access-date=2 July 2013|date=15 January 2008}}
History
Between 1991 and 1993, the un-word was announced by the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache, alongside the Word of the Year. In 1994, following a row with the then German government led by Helmut Kohl, the jury led by linguist Horst Dieter Schlosser decided to become independent of any state-funded institution.{{cite web | title=Geschichte – Unwort des Jahres | website=Unwort des Jahres | url=https://www.unwortdesjahres.net/unwort/geschichte/ | language=de | access-date=10 January 2023}}{{cite web | last=Leppert | first=Georg | title=Unwort des Jahres: Frankfurter Wissenschaftler erklärt, wie es zum Unwort des Jahres kam | website=Frankfurter Rundschau | date=13 January 2020 | url=https://www.fr.de/frankfurt/unwort-jahres-frankfurter-wissenschaftler-erfand-es-13434806.html | language=de | access-date=10 January 2023}}{{cite web | last=Gunkel | first=Christoph | title=Deutsche Sprachpreise | website=Der Spiegel | date=31 October 2011 | url=https://www.spiegel.de/geschichte/deutsche-sprachpreise-a-947377.html | language=de | access-date=10 January 2023}}
List of un-words of the year since 1991
=1990s=
In 1999, the jury chose {{Lang|de|Menschenmaterial}} as un-word of the 20th century.
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Century || Un-word of the century (German) || English translation || Explanation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 20th | {{ill|Menschenmaterial|de}} | human material | With this word, a human is considered a mere object. This became particularly apparent in the First and Second World War as many people were used and expended for waging war. |
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year || Un-word of the year (German) || English translation || Explanation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | {{Lang|de|ausländerfrei}}{{cite web|url=http://www.unwortdesjahres.net/index.php?id=33|title=Die Unwörter von 1991 bis 1999|publisher=Technische Universität Darmstadt|language=de}} | free of foreigners | Xenophobic, far-right slogan referring to an (ideal) community without any non-German inhabitants, which came to broad public attention during the Hoyerswerda riots |
| 1992 | {{Lang|de|ethnische Säuberung}} | ethnic cleansing | Euphemism popularized during the Yugoslav Wars, referring to the elimination of unwanted ethnic or religious groups by deportation, forcible displacement, and mass murder |
| 1993 | Überfremdung | lit. 'over-foreignization' | Xenophobic slogan referring to the fear of the negative impact of immigrants on German culture. Considered to make "undifferentiated xenophobia" sound more argumentative and clinical. |
| 1994 | {{Lang|de|Peanuts}} | From the English word peanuts | Chosen to criticize the different definitions of an insignificant amount of money by bankers and average people. Hilmar Kopper, then Chairman of the Board of Deutsche Bank, had used the term to refer to a sum of DM 50 million (roughly US$17 million). |
| 1995 | {{Lang|de|Diätenanpassung}} | adjustment of the remuneration | Euphemism used by members of the Bundestag to refer to the raising of their monetary rewards. The choice of this un-word criticizes the fact that wages for German MPs are set by the MPs themselves, rather than by an independent body. |
| 1996 | {{Lang|de|Rentnerschwemme}} | lit. 'flood of pensioners/retired persons' | Term used in the political discussion about the social difficulties arising from population ageing. The choice criticizes the "wrong and inhumane impression"; the rising number of people in need of a reasonable old-age provision would be "similar to a natural disaster". |
| 1997 | {{Lang|de|Wohlstandsmüll}} | lit. 'prosperity waste' | Deprecatory term coined by Helmut Maucher (then CEO of Nestlé) during an interview, referring to people who are either presumed unable or reluctant to find employment, who in his opinion exist because of the highly developed welfare and social support systems in Germany. |
| 1998 | {{Lang|de|sozialverträgliches Frühableben}} | lit. 'socially acceptable early passing' | Coined by Karsten Vilmar, then head of the German Medical Association, implying that people who die early into their retirement were considered advantageous for the welfare system. |
| 1999 | {{Lang|de|Kollateralschaden}} | collateral damage | Military term referring to the incidental destruction of civilian property and non-combatant casualties, which came to broad attention during the Kosovo War |
=2000s=
=2010s=
=2020s=
| class="wikitable" |
| Year || Un-word of the year (German) || English translation || Explanation |
|---|
| rowspan=2 | 2020
|{{Lang|de|Rückführungspatenschaften}}{{cite news|url=https://www.zeit.de/kultur/2021-01/unwort-des-jahres-corona-diktatur-und-rueckfuehrungspatenschaften|title="Rückführungspatenschaften" und "Corona-Diktatur" sind Unwörter 2020|work=Die Zeit|date=12 January 2021|access-date=4 February 2021 |last1=Iser |first1=Jurik Caspar }} | repatriation sponsorships | The term repatriation sponsorships was coined by the European Commission to describe its policy of encouraging member states who refuse to take refugees to instead take responsibility for deporting those whose applications have been rejected. The panel criticised the euphemistic use of the word repatriation to refer to deportation, and the use of the positive term sponsorship in the context of encouraging anti-humanitarian actions. The term was suggested 41 times.{{cite web|url=http://www.unwortdesjahres.net/fileadmin/unwort/Pressemitteilungen/pressemitteilung_unwort2020.pdf|title=Press release: Election of the 30th "Unword of the Year" – and a new jury!|date=12 January 2021|publisher=Technische Universität Darmstadt|access-date=24 March 2021|archive-date=12 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112092153/http://www.unwortdesjahres.net/fileadmin/unwort/Pressemitteilungen/pressemitteilung_unwort2020.pdf|url-status=dead}} |
| {{Lang|de|Corona-Diktatur}}
| corona(virus) dictatorship | The term corona dictatorship has been used pejoratively to discredit government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel described it as downplaying the oppression of actual authoritarian regimes and belittling victims of dictatorship. They noted that it was employed most frequently by far-right extremists, who "themselves seek, in part quite openly, the abolition of civil liberties and the constitution that represents them". The panel also criticised usage of the term as restricting public discourse and making constructive discussion of health measures more difficult. The term was suggested 21 times. |
| 2021
|{{Lang|de|Pushback}} |pushback |The "pushing-back" of refugees at borders. The panel found the term inappropriately applied by the media.{{Cite news|date=12 January 2022|title=Sprachkritische Aktion: »Pushback« ist das Unwort des Jahres|language=de|work=Der Spiegel|url=https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/pushback-ist-das-unwort-des-jahres-a-cb95eab1-b31e-47f4-b947-7146e3601a9d|access-date=17 January 2022|issn=2195-1349}} |
| 2022
|{{lang|de|Klimaterroristen}} |climate terrorists |Non-violent protest forms of civil disobedience are conflated with actual eco-terrorists, and placed in the context of violence and hostility to the state. Activists are thus "criminalized and defamed".{{cite web | title=Unwort des Jahres 2022: Dieses Wort wurde von der Jury gekürt | website=Die Welt | date=10 January 2023 | url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article243122013/Unwort-des-Jahres-2022-Dieses-Wort-wurde-von-der-Jury-gekuert.html | language=de | access-date=10 January 2023}} |
| 2023
|{{lang|de|Remigration}} | This word is used as a "right-wing polemic buzzword" and a "euphemistically concealing expression" for forced deportations. It came to public attention when, just a week before the unword announcement, a far-right meeting in Potsdam of AfD party members and right-wing extremists was uncovered.{{cite web | title="Remigration" ist Unwort des Jahres 2023 | website=Tagesschau | date=16 January 2024 | url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/gesellschaft/unwort-remigration-deutschland-100.html | language=de | access-date=16 January 2024}} |
| 2024
|{{lang|de|Biodeutsch}} |Biological German | Ethnic or biological German. According to the jury, the term “bio-German” was increasingly used in public and social discourse in 2024, especially in social media, to categorize, evaluate, and discriminate against people based on supposed biological criteria. It was originally used as a satirical expression that played with the label "bio" of a quality seal for organic produce, but has over recent years acquired a non-satirical, literal, use where 'Germanness' is defined biologicallly to differentiate and devalue Germans with a migration biography. This division into supposedly 'real' Germans and second-class Germans is criticized as a form of everyday racism. |