Find Reviews by Make:
Each year, the „Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache“ (association for the German language) selects its word of the year. This year, the German WOTY is, you guessed it …
Abwrackprämie.
It did beat “kriegsähnliche Zustände” (warlike conditions – in Afghanistan) and „Schweinegrippe“ (pigflu). 2008, the German word of the year was „Finanzkrise“ (financial crisis.) This as per the report in Das Autohaus. [sub]
In the U.S. the WOTY according to Websters, is “distracted driving.” Clunker didn’t even make the shortlist. The New York Times tried to push it, but came too late.
15 Comments on “And The German Wort Of The Year Is …....”
Read all comments
I’m thinking jobless would have been a good word for 2009. Or maybe they’re saving it for 2010.
I guess “hope” got used up in 2008?
The words “hope” and “change” are forever ruined for me. I hate the words so much now that any charity that I may have given money to previously no longer gets anything from me if either word is used in their advertising.
I would have expected the German wort of the year to involve barley…
+1 internets to you! :D
So what’s the German wurst of the year?
I assume “change” would not be the WOTY.
So what does “Abwrackpramie” mean?
From my pathetic memory of high school German, I think it literally means Crushing Bonus…. I certainly could be wrong.
The word was coined to describe the country’s popular cash-for-clunkers scheme, which paid people to junk their old cars as part of the government’s stimulus programme.
(from The Local, German News in English)
So it’s Cash For Clunkers! I love it!!!
Or maybe Its something I was never taught… the Germans love throwing together words together that never were before….so maybe I read that somewhere…
Actually, Abwrackprämie comes from an old program where owners of ships were paid money for wrecking them and taking them out of circulation. The German c4c program was originally greenwashed as “Umweltprämie” (environment bonus) but its detractors gave it the Abrwrackprämien monicker, and it stuck
I would have thought it was going to be “unfriend” like every other country (except maybe in Iran, North Korea) where they don’t have the Social Notworking sites.
With English lacking the German penchant for merging words in to one did Websters not pickup their word of the year is actually two?
Edit: Oh and any German wort of the year better adhere to another wonderful word of theirs: Reinheitsgebot.
Oh, man…in that pile of cars I see three of variants of what I’ve owned in the past…a BMW 1600/2002 , Audi 100/5000 and the Mitsubishi Celeste (nee Plymouth Arrow in the States)…kind of sad…