The jury criticizes not the ironic-satirical, but the discriminatory use of the word because it violates the idea of democratic equality and inclusion and represents a privileging of the imaginary community of 'bio-Germans' over groups that are excluded from the racist construct of the supposed 'bio-Germans'. The non-ironic use of the word imagines a biological connection between nationality and 'Germanness' that does not exist.

We also criticize it as the second worst word in 2024:

HeizungsverbotThe term ' heating ban ' is a misleading term that was used in connection with the reformed Building Energy Act, which comes into force on January 1, 2024, to discredit climate protection measures. The term is misleading because the Building Energy Act does not ban heating or heating systems. Rather, it prohibits the installation of new heating systems that use fossil fuels and instead calls for alternative heating systems that use more environmentally friendly energy sources that are at least 65% renewable.

This year, the jury is once again using the category of the guests' personal unword, which was introduced in 2013.

The personal unword of this year's guests Saba-Nur Cheema and Meron Mendel:

imported anti-SemitismThe term imported anti-Semitism suggests that hatred of Jews has become a problem, especially with the influx of migrants (from Arab countries). The term is used in right-wing circles in particular to marginalize Muslims and people with a migration background and to distract from their own anti-Semitism. It is also used to portray Muslims who were socialized in Germany in the second or third generation and have German citizenship as 'imported' and therefore as non-German and not belonging to society.

Unword statistics 2024

The jury received a total of 3172 submissions for the year 2024. A total of 655 different expressions were proposed, of which around 80 met the jury's unword criteria.

Among the most frequent entries (at least 10 entries) - not all of which strictly met the jury's criteria - were Besonnenheit (50), biodeutsch (10), D-Day (22), Dubaischokolade (14), kriegstüchtig (58), Nutztier (1227), Remigration (23), Sondervermögen (20), Staatsräson (10), tatsächlich (24), Technologieoffenheit (38), Tierwohl (22), Tierwohllabel (14).

You can find the press release here.

The "Unword of the Year" is a civil society, language-critical campaign that was launched in Germany in 1991 by the Frankfurt linguist Horst Dieter Schlosser. Until 1994, the "Unword of the Year" was voted for by the German Language Society (GfdS). Due to different procedures and objectives, the jury became independent and has been announcing the "Unword of the Year" since 1994 independently of political and institutional interests.

Would you like to make a suggestion? You can do so here.

Would you like to find out more about the Unword of the Year campaign? You can do so here.

Are you interested in Unwort Bilder e.V.? Find out more here.