(de-news.net) – “Biodeutsch” was named the Unword of the Year 2024. The term is used on social media in a racist and nationalist way to classify, evaluate, and discriminate against people based on supposed biological ancestry. Originally used satirically, it now promotes a racist, biological form of nationality, distinguishing “Germans” from those with migration backgrounds.

The term “Heizungsverbot” (heating ban) was chosen as the second-place unword for being misleading in climate protection debates. Guest jurors Saba-Nur Cheema and Meron Mendel selected “importierter Antisemitismus” (imported antisemitism) as their personal unword, used by the political right to deflect from their own antisemitism and exclude migrants.

The jury for the “Unword of the Year” consisted of four linguists, one journalist, and this time, two annually rotating members. According to the jury, there were around 3,200 submissions for the unword selection, with 655 different words mentioned. The initiative aims to highlight terms that are incompatible with human dignity, democratic principles, or that discriminate against societal groups.