Inappropriate word of the year
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Un-word of the year (german: Unwort des Jahres) is an annual selection of one new or recently popularized term that violates human rights or infringes upon democratic principles, made by a panel of German
linguists Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
. 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. The linguistic action was started in 1994 by the linguist . 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 ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show ''P ...
'' (a popular German talent show).


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.''Ein Jahr, ein (Un-)Wort!''
'' Spiegel Online'' (in German)


List of un-words of the year since 1991

In 1999, the jury chose as un-word of the 20th century.


See also

* Word of the year * Word of the year (Germany) *
Youth word of the year (Germany) The Youth word of the year (German: Jugendwort des Jahres) is an annual publication which reviews trends in German youth language and names one new or recently popularized word as the most noteworthy. The winning word is chosen by a jury under the ...


References

{{Authority control Word of the year German language 1992 establishments in Germany Ironic and humorous awards