2020: “Lost”. The term describes insecurity or reassuring behaviour.
2019: No voting took place in 2019. So there was no word for this year’s youth.
2018: Honorary Man/Honorary Woman. The word refers to a man/woman who does something special for you.
2017: “I’m Beams.” The expression means “I” or “I” and is a stylistic tool of the Fong language, a linguistic phenomenon of social media.
2016: “Be Fly”. The expression comes from the hip-hop language and should mean something like: someone or something is “crazy”.
2015: “Smobie”. The word consists of smartphone and zombie. The compound word describes a person who is no longer aware of their surroundings because they are only staring at their smartphone.
2014: “what’s up”. Thus an entire sentence was chosen as the “word of youth”. Used to express when things are going well and everything is going right. But it is also used ironically: when things are not going well at all.
2013: “Babu”. The word means something like a boss or a leader. The term was popularized by German-Kurdish rapper Haftbifl – with his song “Shabus Knows Who Babu”.
2012: “Yolo”. This is an acronym and stands for “You only live once” – an invitation to take advantage of all opportunities for experiences.
2011: “booty”. The American expression describes “enviable charisma, ordinary and brilliant” or “positive charismatic aura.”
2010: Limbo Level. In 2010, young people used the term to describe low standards, for example on TV shows, at parties or in conversations.
2009: “hardening”. The word, based on Hartz IV, can mean something like being lazy or unemployed.
2008: Rotten Meat Party. First “young word of the year” is a not-so-fun term for a 30-plus-year-old party.
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