Voted with almost 40 percent of the votes: ‘Goofy’ is the youth word of the year 2023

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The term ‘crazy’ is the youth word of the year 2023. The word, which stands for a clumsy or foolish person, received about 39 percent of the votes in an online voting process among young people, publisher Langenscheidt announced on Sunday. in Frankfurt am Main. The word was used by young people years ago. This year there was a revival.

In second place was ‘Side Eye’, which describes a skeptical view of a person or a situation. “NPC” took third place. The abbreviation stands for “Non-player character”. This refers to a person who only passively observes what is happening around him.

Part of active language use

The youth word was selected in a three-stage online voting process: young people could propose terms and then vote for their favorites. According to Langenscheidt, the choice has been entirely in the hands of young people since 2020. A publications committee only ensures that the terms do not have discriminatory or sexist connotations.

This year the youth word of the year was announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair. According to publisher Langenscheidt, the number of participants in the vote was higher than ever before. In total, a high six-figure number participated.

“It is important that all words included in the vote are part of the active language of eleven to twenty-year-olds,” explains Patricia Kunth of Langenscheidt-Verlag. As in previous years, channels in social networks in particular had a major influence on the language development of young people.

In 2022, ‘Smash’ was the youth word of the year. The term stands for ‘starting something with someone’. It comes from the smartphone game ‘Smash or Pass’, in which users are shown a celebrity and can rate their attractiveness by swiping right or left on the screen. (AFP)

Source: Blick