More than a million young people have chosen the word for youth in 2021. It is not new, however, as it made it into the top 3 last year.
Stuttgart – Every year the youth word of the year is chosen. Young people in Germany are called on the Internet to submit suggestions and choose the word in several voting rounds. In between, a jury selects ten words from the best suggestions, after which young people can vote on their youth word of the year in the final vote.
In 2021 “Cringe” was chosen as the youth word of the year. The term describes something embarrassing or unpleasant and prevailed in a final vote by Langenscheidt Verlag with 42 percent of the votes, as the company announced on Monday (25.10.2021) in Stuttgart. In addition to “cringe”, the terms “sheesh” and “sus” remained in the vote. “Sheesh” expresses astonishment or disbelief, the word “sus” means something like “suspicious” or “conspicuous”.
Voting for youth word of the year restructured after criticism
“Sus” landed in the final with 32 percent of the vote in second place ahead of “sheesh” (26 percent). According to Langenscheidt, a total of around 1.2 million young people took part in the voting in the election, which began on June 14th.
After the Langenscheidt publishing house was taken over by Pons, the election for the youth word of the year was restructured. Since 2020, young people have been able to vote themselves via the publisher’s website. Previously, adults had decided on the youth word, which had repeatedly sparked discussions. Langenscheidt has been voting for the youth word of the year since 2008. This repeatedly caused criticism, because the election has been seen time and again as an advertising campaign for the publisher in recent years.
Youth word of the year: Cringe landed in the top 3 in 2020
Last year “lost” was chosen as the youth word of the year. It expresses ignorance and uncertainty. This year’s winner “cringe” landed in second place last year, in third place last year “Wyld” or “Wild”, which is used by young people when they describe something extreme or special. (msb with dpa)
