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Turkish word wins German slang award

Hannah Cleaver · 25 Nov 2013, 12:26

Published: 25 Nov 2013 12:26 GMT+01:00

It beat 'fame' - used not only to mean famous, but also cool - and 'gediegen', a German word meaning dignified or genuine, but used to mean cool or relaxed. 

In fourth place came the phrase 'in your face' which is used by German teenagers as it is in English as an expression of victorious defiance.

Fifth was 'hakuna matata' which comes from the Swahili for no worries - and is used in the Disney film The Lion King.

Langenscheidt worked with two teen magazines and a youth trade fair organizer to put together a jury to select the word of the year, after inviting young people to suggest and vote for their favourite suggestions.

Last year the winner was 'yolo' - the English acronym for you only live once.

Langenscheidt has announced the youth word of the year since 2008, when it kicked things off with 'Gammelfleischparty' - which literally means rotting meat party but is used to describe over-30s discos or other parties for 'old people'.

READ MORE: Youth Word of the Year shows 'problem' with trendy English

For more news from Germany, join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Hannah Cleaver (hannah.cleaver@thelocal.de)

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