“Remigration” has been named the bad word of the year 2023. The jury explains its choice by saying that the word is a “right-wing fighting term” and an “euphemistic cover vocabulary”. “Sozialklimbim” came in second place.
The bad word of 2023 is “remigration”. This was announced by the language-critical “Unwort” campaign in Marburg. The expression is used by right-wing extremists to euphemize the demand for forced expulsions and deportations.
“In the Identitarian Movement, in right-wing parties and other right-wing to right-wing extremist groups, the word has become a euphemism for the demand for forced expulsion and even mass deportations of people with a migration background,” the jury explained its decision.
The use of the word is criticized because it was used last year as a “right-wing fighting term, a euphemistic cover vocabulary and an expression that obscures actual intentions.”
AfD officials talk about “remigration”
With its “unword” selection, the jury, which consists mostly of linguists, takes up a very current debate. Last Wednesday had the media company “Correctiv” research results published about a meeting in a Potsdam villa, which individual AfD officials as well as individual members of the CDU and the ultra-conservative Values Union also took part in November. The former head of the right-wing extremist Identitarian Movement in Austria, Martin Sellner, confirmed to the dpa news agency that he had spoken about “remigration” there.
When right-wing extremists use the term “remigration,” they usually mean that large numbers of people of foreign origin should leave the country – even under duress. The linguist and jury spokeswoman Constanze Spieß had already reported in December that “Remigration” was among the entries for the “Unwort” freestyle – that is, even before the current debate.
“Social climate” in second place
In second place, the jury placed the term “social climate”, which was used in the debate about basic child welfare. This choice of words denigrates and defames the group of people with low income and assets and at the same time stigmatizes the group of children who are affected by poverty or at risk of poverty.
The term “Heizungs-Stasi” takes third place. The jury criticized the expression used with regard to the Building Energy Act as “populist propaganda against climate protection measures”.
The bad word of the year was selected according to various criteria from suggestions that citizens submitted by December 31, 2023.
Bad word of the year 2022: “Climate Terrorists”
This time there were a total of 2,301 entries – significantly more than the previous year. They contained 710 different terms, of which almost 110 met the jury’s criteria.
According to those responsible, terms and formulations that violate the principles of human dignity or democracy, that discriminate against social groups or that are euphemistic, obfuscating or misleading are considered the bad word of the year. How frequently a term was suggested is not decisive for the non-word choice. For 2022, the choice fell on “climate terrorists”.
Anna Spieß, HR, tagesschau, January 15, 2024 12:47 p.m