What was stirring in 2022? An ABC – of course with a fishing hat, 9-euro ticket, oat milk, “Layla”, Selenskyjs T-shirts, men’s handbags, Wordle and Wildberry Lillet.
2022 was the year from monkeypox to the turning point (read: Mpox and Russia’s war of aggression). Topics and trends of the year – as a lifestyle dictionary from A to Z:
A
like monkeypox: After a peak in the summer with sometimes hundreds of confirmed cases reported per week, the situation surrounding the virus infection in Germany calmed down significantly at the end of 2022.
like a fisherman’s hat: when the “hat citizen” wore it in 2018 (“they filmed my face”), there was still ridicule. In 2022, the bucket hat was all the rage – like the Eurovision Song Contest winner Oleh Psjuk from Ukraine.
B
like Bush, Kate: The Netflix series “Stranger Things” uses the song “Running Up That Hill” and takes Kate Bush’s song to the top of the charts after 37 years.
like bisexuality: Last but not least, the Netflix series “Heartstopper” is making the B in LGBTIQ+ a bigger topic this year.
C
like the computer game character HuggyWuggy: The plush horror monster with a laughing mouth full of large, pointed teeth comes from the video game “Poppy Playtime” and is incredibly popular with children.
like Carter, Aaron: There are many moving bereavements again, but the early death of ex-child stars always seems particularly tragic.
D
such as shower tips: Energy saving recommendations from Greens like Winfried Kretschmann (“washcloths are a useful invention”) or Robert Habeck (take a shorter shower!) will annoy some in 2022.
like “You mustn’t believe everything you think”: comedian Kurt Krömer has landed a bestseller with this book about his depression.
E
like eFoil: From the shore it looks like people are flying over the water. Electric hydrofoils (eFoils) are electrically powered underwater wing surfboards. Forecast: continue to take off in 2023.
like a final end: The noughties online network “studiVZ” will be shut down for good in 2022 and Telekom will disable coin payment on the approximately 12,000 remaining public telephones on November 21. In 2023 and 2024 the last telephone pillars or booths will disappear completely.
f
like football fatigue: Rarely has professional football with FIFA and their so-called desert World Cup in Qatar been as controversial as it will be in 2022. The damage could remain for a long time.
like Fynn Kliemann: The DIY influencer will be disenchanted in 2022 by Jan Böhmermann and his “ZDF Magazin Royale”.
G
such as gender pronouns: In social media or e-mail signatures, it is a trend to use personal pronouns (“she/her”, “sie/ihr” and the like). The movement originated in the USA. Gender designates the social sex – in contrast to the biological sex.
How streamed: The series hit “Wednesday” by Tim Burton with Jenna Ortega as the daughter of the Addams Family of the same name is one of the most streamed Netflix series ever within a few weeks.
H
like oat milk: cow’s milk is becoming less popular with many for various reasons. Many enemies of this development see oat milk as the main enemy (that is “broth made of grains and water”). Conclusion: Kulturkampf, which is a lot of fun for many and will continue in 2023.
like men’s handbags: from the elevator boys to Harry Styles and teens and twens on the streets – many boys now wear a murse (from male purse), i.e. men’s handbag.
I
like inflation: high energy prices, money fears and debates such as around 10-euro kebabs determine many conversations. The question of all questions is probably also in 2023: Is inflation simply part of the 20s?
like Iran: The courageous, nationwide protests against the authoritarian government in Iran trigger expressions of solidarity worldwide. The trigger is the death of Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody in Tehran. The notorious morality police took the 22-year-old student three days earlier because of an ill-fitting headscarf.
J
like Joachim Trier: His Norwegian film comedy “The Worst Person in the World” with the almost 30-year-old Julie (Renate Reinsve), who doesn’t really know what she wants in life, sums up a certain melancholic attitude to life.
like sweatpants: Wearing them on the street – just like shorts in summer – is no longer taboo for many. Corona has pretty much turned the understanding of fashion and comfort inside out.
K
like climate protests: Hardly anything is as controversial this year as the demos of the activists of the last generation on the streets or the sticky and mashed potatoes actions in museums.
as Cultural Appropriation: adopting forms of expression from another culture, usually that of a minority. With something like this, opponents quickly face each other irreconcilably. That happened with dreadlocks, in the summer with “Winnetou” and will probably happen again in 2023.
L
like Layla: hotly debated “Hit of the Year”, often (in vain) banned at folk festivals. The party hit “Layla” by DJ Robin and Schürze became really big in the Mallorca scene.
like Lillet: more precisely “Wildberry Lillet”. The aperitif conquers the charts as a song title with singer Nina Chuba and is a trend drink in 2022. The summer drink will probably stay cool in 2023 as well.
M
like fashion sins en vogue: in addition to jogging pants on the street, Birkenstocks and slippers (slides) have also become fashionable for many.
like Musk, Elon: The billionaire is often a topic and will cause a stir in 2022, especially with his Twitter takeover.
N
like a 9-euro ticket: flat-rate travel by train is great fun for three months in the summer (or not – swearing at trains is a well-known hobby in Germany). The sequel, which is no longer quite so cheap and simple, should come in 2023.
like non-binarity: is becoming a broader topic, not least because of the German Book Prize for Kim de l’Horizon.
O
like topless: “Topless bathing for everyone” in swimming pools is a huge topic in summer, but then only a small phenomenon. Few women actually leave their bikini tops at home.
like Oscar slap: Will Smith’s shocking outburst of anger slapping comedian Chris Rock in the face on stage after he made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett is memorable.
P
like a string of pearls: gender roles are blurring and that’s why strings of pearls are now glistening on male necks. Why not? Will also arrive in remote corners of the republic in 2023.
as well as dwindling audiences: At least in between, cinemas and theaters are downright culturally pessimistic and heatedly debating whether viewers will stay away in the post-Corona era.
Q
like Queen Death: Millions of people around the world mourn the British Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022). The Queen always seemed to be there and is a pop phenomenon, not least because of films or the Netflix series “The Crown”.
like QuietQuitting: also called working your wage. Younger people in particular are only concerned with doing work to rule and saying goodbye to the idea of constantly OVER fulfilling all requirements in the job.
R
as well as religion: Only a minority of the German population (less than 50 percent) is religious. Three decades ago, about three quarters were members of one of the major churches.
like litigation: The defamation trial of the film stars and ex-husbands Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is blatantly sensational.
S
like Sisi hype: After the RTL series “Sisi” there is the internationally successful German Netflix series “The Empress” about Elisabeth of Austria. In 2023, “Sisi & I” with Sandra Hüller will come to the cinema.
like smash: doing young always goes with the youth word, to which “Smash” will be chosen in 2022, which can stand for an object of desire or a tryst. As a verb “smashen” it means “to pick someone up” or “to have sex with someone”.
T
like wedding on Sylt: The celebrity wedding of journalist Franca Lehfeldt and Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner – both without denomination – in a Protestant church in Keitum causes a stir.
like “Triangle of Sadness”: The Swedish director Ruben Östlund wins the Palme d’Or in Cannes with the satire and tragic comedy. The film critical of capitalism (with Sunnyi Melles and Iris Berben, among others) sums up a certain zeitgeist.
u
like Ukraine: Many were too naive to believe that a war of aggression like Russia’s against Ukraine was possible. February 24 will go down in history as a date of horror. “We woke up in a different world” (Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock).
like “Unholy”: world hit for the German singer Kim Petras together with the British non-binary pop star Sam Smith.
V
such as nepotism: under the catchphrase “Nepo Babies” people are criticized who have (supposedly) benefited from nepotism. The focus is on celebrity children, for example, who are now making their own careers in the modeling, music or acting business.
like Voyage: Abba are again giving concerts in London under this title as avatars, pardon Abbatare. Fans and technology freaks are enthusiastic and will book tickets in the specially built concert hall in 2023 as well.
W
like Volodymyr Selenskyj: The Ukrainian president becomes a resistance icon in the war and, according to his own statements on ZDF, has “about 20” of the green T-shirts in which he usually appears.
like Wordle: The game by software developer Josh Wardle will be available as a web application in October 2021 and will take the internet by storm in early 2022. There are many variants, including German versions.
X
like Xatar: One of the sensational films of the year is “Rheingold” by Fatih Akin about rap star Xatar – the main actor is Emilio Sakraya, who should be watched in 2023 and beyond.
such as XXX scenes: So-called intimacy coaches (or coordinators) now support the productions more often in the case of intimate scenes for films and series. It’s about captivating images without violating the emotional, physical and personal limits of the performers.
Y
like Ye: The rapper Kanye West – Kim Kardashian’s ex – now calls himself that and will probably make the crash of the year in 2022 with racist and anti-Semitic statements.
like yuzu: Asian and, above all, Japanese cuisine with trend foods such as sushi, ramen and katsu remain popular. The so-called Japanese lemon will appear in many supermarkets in 2022. The yuzu fruit is considered a hybrid of lemon and tangerine.
Z
like “Zukunft Pink”: After 14 years, Peter Fox is back with a new solo project. In dark times it becomes a positive hit: “All paint black / I see the future pink / Everything will be fine my child.”
like the turn of the century: term chosen as “Word of the Year”. Chancellor Olaf Scholz begins a government statement on the Russian attack on Ukraine with the sentence “February 24, 2022 marks a turning point in the history of our continent”.