The term, first used by US President Donald Trump's White House team, beat out other offensive terms like "babycaust." The "non-word of the year" aims to raise critical awareness and combat abuse of human dignity.
Each January, a jury of linguists chooses a derogatory buzzword popularized through public discourse. The initiative is meant to raise critical awareness of language use. Here are some examples.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
'Pushback'
The term refers to the different measures applied to force migrants and refugees back over a border, usually right after they have crossed it, without giving them any chance to apply for asylum. Pushbacks violate EU and international law and human rights conventions, but Poland legalized them in October 2021, leading Germany's Non-Word of the Year organization to pick the term for 2021.
Image: Policja Podlaska/REUTERS
'Corona dictatorship' and 'return sponsorships'
Many anti-lockdown protesters compared the restrictive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus to a dictatorship. That, however, downplays the experience of people persecuted by actual dictators, which is why the expression was chosen as Germany's Non-Word of the Year 2020. "Return sponsorships," referring to an EU scheme freeing members states from taking on migrants, was also selected.
Image: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa/picture alliance
'Climate hysteria'
According to scientists, the bushfires that ravaged Australia last year were just an example of what is to come if we allow world temperatures to continue to rise. Yet those who take the experts' warnings seriously are accused of "climate hysteria." The discrediting expression was chosen as Germany's Non-Word of the Year 2019.
Image: Getty Images/B. Hemmings
'Anti-deportation industry'
The 2018 Non-Word of the Year was a right-wing slight on lawyers and activists who it is claimed — somewhat misleadingly, according to the jury — are making money out of support for deportees. Here, a protester holds up a "No Deportation" sign at Düsseldorf Airport in January 2018 during a rally by refugee initiatives against the collective removal of asylum-seekers to Afghanistan.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Kaiser
'Alternative facts'
The jury of language critics chose 'alternative facts' ("alternative Fakten") as its 2017 "Unwort des Jahres." The jury argued that the term is a misleading expression for the attempt to make using false claims publicly acceptable. The term was first used by a White House spokesperson to defend a lie relating to the size of the crowd at President Donald Trump's inauguration in January 2017.
The jury chose "Volksverräter," or a traitor to the nation, for its 2016 non-word. The linguists criticized the expression as it hinders a democracy's essential debates. The word's original roots date to the early 19th century; it was widely used during the Nazi era. Far-right individuals have also begun using the term in recent years.
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'Victim subscription'
The selection for 2012 was the term "Opfer-Abo," literally "victim subscription." The term, which refers to the idea of women using sexual assault accusations to get ahead of men, was used by Swiss TV celebrity Jörg Kachelmann after he had been accused and acquitted of rape. The jury called the phrase unacceptable, as it blanketed all women as liars and minimized the dignity of assault victims.
Image: Colourbox/Artem Furman
'Döner murders'
Just months after police discovered the individuals behind a wave of murders of Greek and Turkish nationals, the jury selected "Döner-Morde," or "Döner murders," as its non-word for 2011. Some of the victims had either owned or had been killed in a döner-kebab food joint. The linguists criticized the term for its racist reduction of ethnicity and for its trivialization of the murders.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
'Distressed banks'
Amid the 2007-2008 financial crisis, "notleidende Banken," or "distressed banks," became the non-word of the year. According to the jury, the term turned the relationship between the causes of the crisis and its consequences on its head. Although high-risk, unregulated banking practices caused a global economic meltdown and tax payer bailouts, the term styled the banks as victims — not the cause.
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'Foreign infiltration'
While the word "Überfremdung," or "foreign infiltration," saw a renewed spurt of usage in past years with respect to migration, the jury named it a non-word back in 1993. The term previously had been used during the Nazi era, among other times. It refers to a foreign element that poses an existential threat to a nation or culture. The jury criticized the word as a fake argument against migration.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Deck
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The paradoxical term "alternative facts" ("alternativen Fakten") was selected from a final pool of some 80 offensive and erroneous terms to receive the title of "non-word of the year" for 2017 ("Unwort des Jahres"), Nina Janich, a linguistics professor and the press spokesperson for the independent jury behind the decision, announced in Darmstadt on Tuesday.
The term "alternative facts" was used on US President Donald Trump's second day in the White House by his adviser Kellyanne Conway to defend a lie told the day before by the White House press secretary about the size of the president's inauguration crowd.
According to the jury, "alternative facts" stands "for the growing practice of replacing facts with unprovable claims during the exchange of arguments."
"The term is a concealing and misleading expression for the attempt to make false claims acceptable in the mainstream by presenting them as legitimate in public debate," the jury stated in their reasoning.
The six-member jury awarded the Trumpian term the prize, selecting it over other words such as "babycaust," "fake news" and "Bio-Deutsche" (literally, "organic Germans," referring to Germans without any foreign ancestors).
After reviewing the "non-word" submissions from the public, which can come from all areas of public communication, the jury determined which of the suggestions would be selected as the winner for last year. The jury consisted of four linguists, one journalist and — for the first time since the prize's inception in 1991 — the anonymous German streetartist known as "Barbara."
The submitted words must violate democracy or human dignity, discriminate against a particular social group or be misleading or euphemistic.
All the eligible words must have current use and relevance. A total of 1,316 submissions were made, resulting in 684 unique terms, Janich told German media last week. Of these, the jury deteremined that between 80 to 90 met the competition's criteria. Janich said some 20 made up the closest final competitors.
Janich announced 'Gutmensch,' or 'do-gooder' as the 2015 non-wordImage: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Rumpenhorst
From 'babycaust' to 'fake news'
The most frequently submitted choice, "babycaust," refers to the controversy around German doctor Kristina Hänel, who was fined in November 2017 for "advertising" abortions. The doctor, who was attacked on a website of the same name, said the term was misleading due to its similarity to the word "Holocaust," in which over six million Jews were murdered.
"Organic Germans" ("Bio-Deutsche") has started being used to refer to Germans whose ancestors were born in Germany, in opposition to those who migrated to Germany. The term, a pun on the "bio" label that designates organic food in Germany, has surfaced from those opposed to migration.
"Fake news," "Speech police" ("Sprachpolizei"), and "Softwareupdate" are also on the final list for 2017.
The jury does not take into account the frequency of a submitted word when making its decision. Instead, the "language-critical action" of selecting a "non-word" is meant to highlight how language is used in public communication and raise awareness about words that violate human dignity and the principles of democracy, leading to a more critical population
The "Non-word of the Year" prize was first established in 1991 and remained under the aegis of the Society for German Language until 1994. Since that year, the jury has been independent.
Last year's "non-word" was "Volksverräter," or "traitor to the nation."
