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Youth Language 2025: Which terms do the people of Havana know?
In Havelland, young people in 2025 will discuss current slang words. Which terms are nominated and how does social media influence them?
Youth Language 2025: Which terms do the people of Havana know?
Langenscheidt-Verlag has opened the vote for the youth word of the year 2025. An exciting time for all young people who want to try out new and creative slang words in their everyday conversations. The nominated words include “Lowkey”, “Digga”, “Sybau”, “goonen”, “scissors”, “tuff”, “tot”, “das crazy”, “are you checking” and “speech”. This selection not only reflects current language usage, but also shows how much youth language is constantly evolving [maz-online.de].
Young people mostly use these terms in a playful and creative way. So “checkst du” asks a question that shows whether the other person has understood something. On the other hand, “dead” is used more ironically to describe funny or absurd situations. The term “Digga(h)”, which is a recognized slang term for friends, is also very popular. 16-year-old Erik, who knows all the nominated words, uses “Digga” and “do you check” particularly often, while his 14-year-old friend Oliver was surprised that the word “Wallah” was not on the list.
The influence of social media
Rick Smyczek, street worker in Rathenow, highlights how strong the influence of social media is on the language of young people. Compared to his own youth, when other terms were popular, there is now a clear change, which is not least encouraged by platforms like TikTok and Instagram. These media play a role in the dissemination of new terms and language styles, which significantly influences the choice of youth word.
The youth word of the year has been chosen in Germany since 2008. Last year, 2023, the word “Goofy” won around 39 percent of the vote. Since 2020, the election has been carried out by everyone and no longer just by a jury, which underlines the relevance and originality of the proposed words. The criteria for selecting the terms are based on their distribution and the cultural context, according to the Diskurs-Zeitschrift.
Traditions and developments
The votes are a sign of the creativity of young people and at the same time reflect social trends. Linguists study these developments and the changes in youth language. In the past, terms like “yolo” or “Smombie” were among the winners, and the current list also contains both new and well-known terms.
Youth have the opportunity to submit their suggestions via social media and the Langenscheidt-Verlag website, and a committee filters these suggestions to create a top 10 list. The audience makes the final decision through an online vote, which has already taken place in several rounds.
In this way, the youth words not only become popular, they also gain influence on everyday language and find their way into the media. With such a dynamic process, it will be exciting to see which terms will ultimately emerge as winners from this election. The announcement at a later date promises an interesting discussion about language and identity. The choice of the youth word remains a lively and exciting topic in German linguistic culture.