
Echoing last year’s selection from Collins Dictionary of
permacrisis, the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache (
previously) has chosen crisis-mode for the
Worte des Jahres for 2023 as a reflection of the ongoing exceptional states of emergency that polarise a seemingly powerless, frightened and overwhelmed public between the extremes of apathy and alarmism. Runners’ up included Lesefähigkeit (reading comprehension) due to a sharp fall in functional literacy perceived to have been made worse by school closures during COVID, KI Boom (Künstlichen Intelligenz,
AI), a term for infighting among the ruling
government coalition and Teilzeitgesellschaft—part-time society for more of a work-life balance.