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Negative award: Language critics choose »freedom« as »Cluster of the Year«

2023-01-01T19:52:20.513Z


With his "double boom" Olaf Scholz landed in a negative list of language critics. The word »freedom« came in first place – because the term is often reinterpreted for selfish demands.


Enlarge image

A lot was demanded in 2022 with the term »freedom«

Photo: Christof Bock / dpa

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz made it into the top five places in the negative prize “Cluster of the Year 2022” with his neologism “Double Wumms”.

This was announced by the operators of the Floskelwolke network project, Udo Stiehl and Sebastian Pertsch, the dpa news agency.

With the word, the traffic light coalition had announced an electricity price brake in addition to the gas price brake.

"You can say that's a double boom here," Scholz said in September.

“Climate sticker”, “social tourism” and “technology-friendly” were among the top five words.

This time, the word “freedom” takes first place in the negative prize.

The language critics emphasize that with this choice they are not impaling the word itself - but the swindle that is being done with it.

The reason: "We are observing how an increasingly aggressive way of dealing with each other in society is reflected in the language." Differentiated discussions are drowned out by volume and buzzwords.

"This does not stop at the reinterpretation of a highly regarded good like freedom, in the name of which selfish demands are now being made or absurd praises of nuclear power, for example, as 'freedom energy'," say the language critics.

»Unfortunately, the verbal abuse of the concept of freedom exceeded all expectations and he is a deserved winner of this negative award.«

After "Bazooka" comes the "double boom"

Regarding the choice of »Doppelwumms« it said: »The second edition of the 'Bazooka' is on the table, doubly ammunition with subsidies for energy companies and consumers.

The bang from the double barrel of the rifle costs so much that it can probably only be conveyed through onomatopoeia.

We expect more puff, puff and puff laws!” At the height of the corona crisis, Scholz had described an unlimited loan program as a “bazooka”.

The term actually stands for an anti-tank weapon - and in a figurative sense for a virtually unlimited financial firepower.

The word »social tourism« also made it into the top 5 list. »The ›nonsense word of the year 2013‹ is always good for a right-wing provocation.

It suggests that immigrants come to Germany mainly because of social benefits.«

With the word "open to technology", which was also punished, anyone could "insist on old-fashioned techniques and praise uneconomical ideas from a crystal ball".

The word "climate sticker" in turn is a "catchy alliteration that can hardly be surpassed in terms of brevity and contempt.

A language label for people who, regardless of their goals, are reduced to the form of protest,” say the two jurors.

Sebastian Pertsch and Udo Stiehl were awarded the Günter Wallraff Prize for journalism criticism for the cloud of phrases.

Since 2014, the language and media-critical project has been drawing attention to "plain phrases, phrases and other questionable formulations in German-language news texts".

One does not want "to denounce, but to sensitize," says Pertsch.

The »Cluster of the Year« was awarded for the third time.

First, the 2020 prize went to »Individual cases«, followed in 2021 by »Personal responsibility«.

The number of qualified proposals for 2022 was similar to the previous year.

More than 70 terms and phrases related to the past year reached the phrase cloud.

In addition to the top 5, the “equally prize-worthy” formulations “change in era”, “community of values”, “corona break”, “immune guilt” and “resilience” were suggested.


svs/dpa

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2023-01-01

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