The 'unwort' of the year (2021) was selected yesterday. Unwort? There's a committee who pursues German words created (mostly out of thin air) and are quickly used over and over in the news business.
So the top choice for 2021? Pushback.
Pushback? Well....the term was coined for various countries which didn't allow migrants/asylum seekers....to enter or transit that country. In some ways, it's supposed to be a term used to identify the 'bad' countries which aren't migrant-friendly (like Germany).
Second-place in this word contest? I thought this was more interesting.....'Sprachpolizei (language police).
This is used where people either demand you speak in a certain way or demand you don't go changing words or their meaning. So Sprachpolizei came up a good bit over the gender discussion in Germany.
Germany is a bit different over the gender discussion because a couple of college professors or hundreds of journalists, or 10,000 university students....can't change the language. The Duden 'club' maintains order over the German language, and if they don't agree with your language argument or suggestion....then it's a no-go.
Any of this word business a big deal? Well....no. It's mostly a way to evaluate 2021, and weird things which were going on in the landscape.
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