“Climate terrorists” is the nonsense of the year 2022. This was announced by the “Language Critical Action” in Marburg. The expression was used in public discourse to discredit activists and their protests for more climate protection, the jury justified their choice. The word is misleading: non-violent forms of protest, civil disobedience, are placed in the context of violence and hostility to the state. Activists would be “criminalized and defamed,” criticized a spokeswoman for the initiative.
The jury gave second place to the expression “social tourism”, which had been voted “nonsense” in 2013. CDU leader Friedrich Merz used the word last September in connection with war refugees from Ukraine and later apologized for it. The jury saw in the use of the word “discrimination against those people who are fleeing the war and are looking for protection in Germany”. In addition, the word obscures their fundamental right to it.
In third place came the phrase “defensive architecture,” which was criticized as misleading and euphemistic. The term refers to a type of construction that prevents homeless people from being able to settle down in public places for longer.
The jury, which consists mainly of linguists, wants to draw attention to inappropriate, obscuring or defamatory public language use with the nonsense of the year. Words are criticized that violate the principles of human dignity or democracy, that discriminate against social groups or that are euphemistic, obscure or misleading formulations.
Overall, there were more than 1,400 suggestions for the nonsense of the year, said Constanze Spieß, jury chair and German professor at the University of Marburg Süddeutsche Zeitung before the announcement. The war in Ukraine and the climate protests played a role in this. Among the suggestions were the expressions “special operation”, “free mentality”, “hygiene walk” and “special assets”.
The word of the year 2021 was “pushback”. The term, which comes from English, describes the – contrary to international law – sending refugees back across a national border, without having had the opportunity to apply for asylum. 2020 was marked with the terms “repatriation sponsorships” and “corona dictatorship” a non-word pair chosen for the first time. In 2019 “climate hysteria” was the word of the year, in 2018 “anti-deportation industry”.
Word of the year 2022: “Time change”
At the beginning of December, the society for the German language announced the word of the year: “Zeitenwende”. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said three days after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine: “We are experiencing a turning point. And that means that the world after is no longer the same as the world before.” In the Bundestag, Scholz explained: “The core question is whether power can break the law, whether we allow Putin to turn the clock back to the time of the great powers of the 19th century, or whether we can muster the strength to warmongers like Putin setting boundaries.”
The Society for German Language justified its choice in December with the fact that Scholz had used the term originally used for the beginning of the Christian era in a “second sense”. “German economic and energy policy had to be completely realigned. Relationships with other international partners such as China were also critically examined. Many people also experienced an emotional turnaround,” the statement continued.