"Divers" in 2nd place "Signature scam" is the word of the year
The Zurich University of Applied Sciences has chosen "Unterschriften-Bschiss" as the Swiss German word of the year. The other podium places were taken by "divers" and "Murgang".
03.12.2024, 06:24
03.12.2024, 06:37
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- The Zurich University of Applied Sciences has chosen "Unterschriften-Bschiss" as the Swiss-German word of the year.
- "Unterschriften-Bschiss" came first in the ranking because the forging of signatures and identities on initiative collection forms by commercial signature collectors has kept Switzerland on tenterhooks this year.
- "Diverse" and "Murgang" follow in the other places on the podium.
"Unterschriften-Bschiss" came first in the ranking because the forging of signatures and identities on initiative collection forms by commercial signature collectors had kept Switzerland on tenterhooks this year. The Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) announced on Tuesday that trust in the democratic Swiss voting system had been severely undermined as a result.
The word "diverse" came in second place. This was because there was a lively debate in the country about how diverse personal and communal areas of life are and should be and how Switzerland should deal with this. According to the ZHAW, there are no simple answers to this question, as opinions are very diverse.
Murgang" came in third place, or rather slipped down. The ZHAW went on to say that numerous debris flows had irreversibly changed the Swiss landscape in 2024. Debris avalanches had thundered down in various places in Switzerland and the inhabitants of the Graubünden mountain village of Brienz had even had to leave their homes completely due to the threat of another major debris flow.
"Cessez-le-feu", "non binario" and "segundimorant:a
The ZHAW selects the words of the year for Switzerland not only in German, but in all four national languages. In French, "cessez-le-feu" (ceasefire) was chosen as the word of the year, in Italian "non binario" (non-binary) and in Romansh "segundimorant:a" (second native:r).
The Department of Applied Linguistics at the ZHAW in Winterthur is responsible for the word of the year. It analyzed the Swiss-AL database and determined the words per language that were used more frequently or significantly differently than in previous years. A jury of language professionals selected the three most striking words from this list, as well as from suggestions from the public and based on their own experience.
Last year in 2023, "Monsterbank" was voted Swiss German word of the year.