Tag Archives: news
German Word Of The Year 2021 Posted by Constanze on Dec 30, 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…
Austrian Word Of The Year 2021 Posted by Constanze on Dec 15, 2021
Guten Tag! It’s coming to that time of year when each country reveals its Wort des Jahres – its ‘Word of the Year’! What is the Word of the Year? The Wort des Jahres is voted in each year by a jury (die Jury), usually made up of linguists (der Sprachwissenschaftler: linguist) and people from…
A little Cringe – Germany’s Youth Word 2021 Posted by Sten on Nov 22, 2021
A few weeks ago, the German Jugendwort des Jahres (Youth Word of the Year) was chosen. From a field with some strange contestants, one word clearly took the cake! What this word means and how it entered the German language, as well as the hilarious way the Tagesschau dealt with this news, let’s explore. A wide variety…
Water Everywhere: How Did Germany Get Flooded? Posted by Sten on Jul 28, 2021
It all started as regular schlechtes Wetter (n, bad weather), but Tief Bernd (n, depression Bernd) just wouldn’t move. Regenerating the Regenwolken (f, rain clouds) with water from the Mittelmeer (n, Mediterranean Sea) and the Atlantik (m, Atlantic Ocean). The Regen (m, rain) just wouldn’t stop, and . It was der perfekte Sturm (the perfect storm). Together Against the Flood The Regen turned into Flut (f, flood)…
Lüften: Germany’s Airing Obsession & Covid-19 Posted by Constanze on Mar 17, 2021
Guten Tag! In a recent post on things you can expect to find in a German home, I talked about how die Heizung (the heating) and die Lüftung (the airing/ventilation) systems in German homes are different to those in US homes, meaning the Germans have to open their windows more often to prevent mould &…
Black Lives Matter In Germany Posted by Constanze on Jun 10, 2020
Guten Tag! All around the world there have been Black Lives Matter protests in response to the murder of George Floyd by a US police officer on 25th May. Germany is no exception, having recently held protests in many of its major cities, including Berlin, München, Hamburg and Frankfurt. In this post, I will share…
Austrian and Swiss-German Words of the Year 2019 Posted by Constanze on Jan 27, 2020
Guten Tag! We have previously looked at Germany’s Wort des Jahres (Word of the Year) and its Unwort des Jahres (Non-word of the Year) 2019 in this post, this one (runners up) and this one. But what about other, German-speaking countries? Do they also have ‘words of the year’ in Austria and German-speaking Switzerland? The…