It’s that time of year again: the German public is voting on which word will be crowned the Jungendwort des Jahres. Every year, 10 candidates are chosen. These slang words (and this year, one snippet from a song) are chosen because they’re new, often at least partially borrowed from English or the internet and in high circulation by the young people in the country. The winning word is chosen by the publishing company Langenscheidt, and the process is extensive. Two rounds of voting (first from the top 10, then the top 3), and finally in October the Jungendwort des Jahres will be named. Cast your vote on your favourite up until August 20.
67 (Six-Seven)
Nobody really knows what this means, but it comes from a popular TikTok video.
Macker
This one needs context – it can mean ‘dude’, it can be used ironically for a macho guy, it can mean ‘pal’ or it can refer to a romantic partner.
Ragebait
If you’re on the internet, you probably know what this means: content that’s meant to make you angry.
Peak
‘Peak’ is peaking in Germany a little late. It just means ‘peak’ as in ‘awesome’, ‘amazing’, ‘the best’.
Süper
Ooh we love that extra umlaut! This one also came from TikTok. Ultramarathon runner Arda Saatçi regularly uses süper in his videos, and so it has become the new ‘super’.
Du bist gut genug
So sweet! Literally translated as ‘you are good enough’, this little slice of slang is always sung because it’s borrowed from the song ‘Gut Genug’ by KITSCHKREIG.
Gute Käse
Technically grammatically incorrect, this term is literally translated as ‘good cheese’. It just means something that is really good.
Schere
Literally translated as ‘scissors’, this one comes from gaming and means ‘Sorry, that was my fault’.
Crashout
This one means to totally lose the plot or have an emotional breakdown – a sign of the times. It can be used seriously or ironically.
Digga
This one’s meta. The word comes from ‘Dicker‘, which is slang for being close friends with someone, which comes from the literal translation of that phrase, ‘mit jemandem dick befreundet sein‘. So it essentially just means ‘bro’.
