Barbara Geier: Gen Z German, decoded

TEXT & PHOTOS: BARBARA GEIER

It’s that time of year again. Germany is in the process of deciding on its Youth Word of the Year, a tradition started by Langenscheidt, a German publisher best known for its dictionaries and language-learning books, in 2008. For years, a jury decided the winner. Since 2020, anyone can vote from a shortlist, but – sensibly, given the subject – only votes from 11- to 20-year-olds count towards the final result, which will be announced on 10 October.

Looking at this year’s shortlist of ten, the mix of words is a delight, at least for a language nerd like me – and potentially a nightmare for anyone teaching German as a foreign language, as grammar, rules and the official German taught to learners go completely out of the window.

As always, there are plenty of English terms, including 67, the viral internet slang term that became popular among Germany’s youth through TikTok and the like. There’s also crashout, used when someone completely loses their temper or reacts in an extremely emotional way. Helpfully, Langenscheidt provides an example of how German Gen Z or Gen Alpha might use it in a sentence: “Wenn mein Akku gleich ausgeht, gehe ich Crashout” – literally, “If my battery dies now, I go crashout.” Other English contenders are peak, referring to the absolute high point of something or to something that simply cannot be topped, and ragebait, meaning social media content designed to grab attention, often by deliberately provoking people.

Alongside these English terms, adopted by young Germans not least thanks to social media, there’s also a very German entry that has made its way out of Germany and into the wider world on the waves of the internet: “Du bist gut genug” (“You are good enough”), based on a song that has not only taken Germany by storm this year but has also gone viral online, spawning countless memes and interpretations. It has even made it into the US Billboard charts, marking the first time this millennium that a German-language song has achieved that feat. On TikTok, the track has become the third most-used sound, with more than 3.3 million videos using the original song (as of 10 July 2026), not counting covers sung by users themselves. Funnily enough, the hype really took off in the English-speaking world thanks to the classic misheard lyrics phenomenon. Rather than the German line “Du bist gut genug,” many heard something that sounds vaguely like the English “Doobie Scoot Canoe.”

Moving on down the shortlist, you can also learn a new way to say sorry in German by using the word Schere (scissors). The term comes from the gaming community, where it’s used as a way of apologising for a mistake, and has since made its way into young people’s everyday language. An example? No problem: “Schere. Habe mich wochenlang nicht gemeldet.” – “Sorry, I haven’t been in touch for weeks.”

Apart from such baffling entries, I was very pleased to see that a term from my youth (that is a very old term!) seems to be making a comeback among young Germans. I’m talking about the good old Macker. Depending on the context, it can mean boyfriend, mate, or simply guy or bloke. Apparently, today’s youngsters use it ironically, which makes sense, given how long it has been around.

Rounding off this little excursion into current German youth slang, let me take you back to the very first German Youth Word of the Year, chosen back in 2008. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Gammelfleischparty – rotten meat party in English – a deliberately insulting, tongue-in-cheek term for a party for people over 30. A nice example of how Germans, young and old, have a penchant for linguistic ruthlessness. And should you be offended by that – sorry. Or Schere, as they say.

Barbara Geier is a London-based freelance writer, translator and communications consultant. She is also the face behind www.germanyiswunderbar.com, a German travel and tourism guide and blog that was set up together with UK travel writer Andrew Eames in 2010.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Discover Germany, Switzerland & Austria.