"The term 'Wavebreaker' has been chosen as Word of the Year"
In the year that was dominated by the Corona pandemic, the German Language Society announced the Word of the Year 2021 - "Wellenbreaker". This term, originally known from coastal protection and shipbuilding, took on new meanings due to the pandemic, symbolising measures to limit coronavirus waves.
The "Wellenbreaker" was not the only term that reflected the pandemic's influence. Words and concepts related to the pandemic, remote work, hybrid learning, digitalization, and youth activism became prominent.
"Pandemic" itself was a key word for 2020 and remained highly relevant through 2021, symbolizing the global crisis caused by COVID-19. Related terms such as "lockdown", "social distancing", and "vaccine" dominated discourse worldwide during 2021. Although these are broad and not always selected as official "words of the year", they were significant in reflecting the pandemic's impact on society.
Various countries and cultures coined unique terms to describe their experiences. For example, Germany’s "Wellenbrecher" focused on wave-breaking restrictions. The pandemic also accelerated the prominence of terms around remote work, hybrid learning, and digitalization, reflecting shifts in work and education.
Youth and global governance discourse in 2021 spotlighted food systems, sustainability, and global action in the pandemic context, emphasising youth activism in global challenges exacerbated by COVID-19.
While no global dictionary or language authority has declared a single "word of the year" in 2021 universally analogous to "Wellenbrecher", the pandemic's influence made "pandemic", "vaccine", and terms related to public health response the most significant worldwide.
In addition to "Wellenbreaker", the German Language Society named "SolidAHRity" as the second Word of the Year 2021. "Pflexit", a new term formed from the combination of the words 'care' and 'exit', was named the third Word of the Year 2021.
The formation of "Pflexit" follows the pattern of Grexit, Brexit, and Polexit. Whether the new meanings of "Wellenbreaker" will remain in the vocabulary in the long term depends largely on whether it is possible to effectively contain the pandemic. The choice of "SolidAHRity" for second place does not indicate that "Wellenbreaker" did not win first place.
The announcement of the Word of the Year 2021 and the second place word was made by the German Language Society on Friday. The German Language Society, which has been announcing the Word of the Year for 45 consecutive years, explained that such transferred uses of a word are typical for a year from a linguistic perspective.
It is important to note that the choice of words does not affect the understanding of the article's content. However, it is a reflection of the global discourse and the ways in which the pandemic has influenced our language and our lives.
- Other terms that mirrored the pandemic's influence in 2021 included those related to health-and-wellness, mental-health, and lifestyle, as people increasingly focused on personal well-being during lockdown periods.
- With the rise of remote work and digitalization, concepts related to health-and-wellness, mental-health, and lifestyle became increasingly important, signifying a shift towards prioritizing well-being in the new digital lifestyle.
