The American Dialect Society has named "they" as the word of the decade, recognizing the plural pronoun's growing use as a singular form to refer to people with a non-binary gender identity.
The winner was decided in a vote by the body's 350 members at an annual gathering on Friday.
"People want to choose something that stands the test of time and sums up the decade as a whole," said linguist and lexicographer Ben Zimmer.
The word of the year was "(my) pronouns" — a nod to the increasingly popular practice of specifying the perferred personal pronouns one would like to be called by, for example she/her.
The society said in a statement that the top picks showed "how the personal expression of gender identity has become an increasing part of our shared discourse."
Other words on the list for word of the decade included "meme," which came in second place, followed by "climate," "#BlackLivesMatter," "woke" and "MeToo."
"They" was also crowned word of the year by US dictionary Merriam-Webster in 2019.
The American Dialect Society was founded in 1889 and started selecting its word of the year in 1991. Since then, the only two previous decade winners have been "web" for the 1990s, and "Google" as a verb for the 2000s.
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From 'Wellenbrecher' to 'Abwrackprämie': Germany's words of the year from 2010 to 2021
2021: 'Wellenbrecher'
A plausible choice in times of an ongoing pandemic, "Wellenbrecher" (literally wave breaker) is a term that comes from coastal protection — it means breakwater. But these days, it stands for all the measures that have been and are being taken to break the fourth COVID-19 wave, says the German Language Association, which unfailingly selects the word of the year every year.
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From 'Wellenbrecher' to 'Abwrackprämie': Germany's words of the year from 2010 to 2021
2020: 'Corona-Pandemie'
The COVID-19 pandemic was, of course, the leading topic of the year 2020, and that's why the German word of the year was none other than "Corona-Pandemie" (corona pandemic). The runner-up word selected by the jury was also related to the pandemic: "Lockdown."
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From 'Wellenbrecher' to 'Abwrackprämie': Germany's words of the year from 2010 to 2021
2019: 'Respektrente'
Planned changes in German pension laws were set to put many workers at a disadvantage by retirement (Rente), so the bill was disparagingly dubbed "Respektrente." The term won over the expressions "Rollerchaos," referring to the chaos created by the sudden invasion of electric scooters in German cities, and "Fridays for Future," the English name for a worldwide school strike for climate movement.
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From 'Wellenbrecher' to 'Abwrackprämie': Germany's words of the year from 2010 to 2021
2018: 'Heisszeit'
The term "Heisszeit," or warm age — as opposed to an "ice age," which sounds quite similar in German, "Eiszeit" — was chosen as the Word of the Year in 2018, reflecting not only Germany's extreme summer that year, but climate change as as whole.
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From 'Wellenbrecher' to 'Abwrackprämie': Germany's words of the year from 2010 to 2021
2017: 'Jamaika-Aus'
"Jamaica coalition" refers to the symbolic colors of three parties in German politics: black for the conservative CDU/CSU, yellow for the business-friendly FDP and green for the Green Party. In 2017, coalition talks went on for weeks, but then came to an abrupt halt. This was "Jamaika-Aus," or Jamaica Out.
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From 'Wellenbrecher' to 'Abwrackprämie': Germany's words of the year from 2010 to 2021
2016: 'postfaktisch'
During the United States presidential election campaign, and after Donald Trump's victory in the fall of 2016, the word "postfaktisch" or post-factual came into common usage to denote the spread of fake news. Even then-Chancellor Angela Merkel used it. The term comes into play when public opinion is formed by emotion and resentment rather than objective facts.
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From 'Wellenbrecher' to 'Abwrackprämie': Germany's words of the year from 2010 to 2021
2015: 'Flüchtlinge'
Refugees — undoubtedly, no other issue had a bigger impact in Germany in 2015, when the Syrian civil war brought nearly a million refugees into the country. Runner-up was "Je suis Charlie," for expressing solidarity with the victims of the terrorist attack against the French satirical journal Charlie Hebdo. No. 3 was "Grexit," which referred to the possible expulsion of Greece from the Eurozone.
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From 'Wellenbrecher' to 'Abwrackprämie': Germany's words of the year from 2010 to 2021
2014: 'Lichtgrenze'
The winning word in 2014 was "Lichtgrenze," or border of light, which referred to a light installation on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This was followed by "schwarze Null," or black zero, describing government efforts to avoid new debts. Another favorite was "Götzseidank," a mash-up of "Gott sei Dank" (thank God) and the legendary goal of soccer star Mario Götze in Brazil.
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From 'Wellenbrecher' to 'Abwrackprämie': Germany's words of the year from 2010 to 2021
2013: 'GroKo'
"GroKo" is short for Grosse Koalition, a grand coalition of the CDU/CSU and the SPD. Recalling "Kroko" or crocodile, the word also expresses derision. The runner-up was "Protz-Bischof," or braggy bishop, referring to Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of Limburg, who came under fire for his prestigious construction projects. The term was followed by "Armutseinwanderung," poverty-driven migration.
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From 'Wellenbrecher' to 'Abwrackprämie': Germany's words of the year from 2010 to 2021
2012: 'Rettungsroutine'
"Rescue routine" reflected repeated efforts to stabilize the European economy. "Kanzlerpräsidentin," chancellor-president, came second: It derided Merkel for acting as neutral as the German president. Third was "Bildungsabwendungsprämie," education-refusal-bonus, derogatorily used for stay-at-home moms who seek a financial reward from the state for not sending their kids to school.
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From 'Wellenbrecher' to 'Abwrackprämie': Germany's words of the year from 2010 to 2021
2011: 'Stresstest'
"Stresstest" so superbly expressed the prevailing spirit of 2011 that it became part of everyday speech. Beyond the financial stress test banks faced, it referred to stress surrounding train stations, governments and nuclear power stations. This was followed by the verb "hebeln," to lever, associated with efforts to rescue the euro, as well as "Arabellion," in reference to the Arab Spring.
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From 'Wellenbrecher' to 'Abwrackprämie': Germany's words of the year from 2010 to 2021
2010: 'Wutbürger'
"Wutbürger," or angry citizen, reflected the impression that political decisions were being made without consulting the population. It was followed by "Stuttgart 21," the heavily criticized reconstruction of Stuttgart's main station, and "Sarrazin-Gen," referring to Thilo Sarrazin, a racist and antisemitic politician and author. He had said Jews share a particular gene, but that was turned on him.
Author: Katharina Abel
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