Word! The Language Column
Please don't!

More and more people suffer from language allergies. Christiane Rösinger is one of them. Here she presents her little alphabet of disgusting words sometimes used in Germany.

By Christiane Rösinger

Achtsamkeit (Mindfulness )
Without words

Bullshit, bullshit bingo, bullshit job
A casual, everyday word with a rebellious flavour, often used by those with insight to refer to experiences in the USA.

Cash Cow
Another Anglicism from the world of portfolio analysis.

Das feier‘ ich! (I celebrate this!)
Comes from the party and club scene, who like to “celebrate” where people used to just drink, dance and take drugs.

Ehrlich/ ganz ehrlich? (honestly?)
Conversely, emphasises that people have lied in other situations.

Fan, bin ich/ Ich bin Fan (Fan, I am / I am a fan)
Is now used in an inflationary way to feign enthusiasm and express approval.

Gerne! (feel free to)
Passive-aggressive phrase used to avoid direct statements. Like this: “Please feel free to switch off your mobile phones during the lecture.”

Handlen, hunten, hustlen (to deal with, to hunt, to work hard)
Used by office employers to indicate the speaker’s cosmopolitanism and knowledge of English. 

Ich bin fein./ Ich bin fein damit. (I’m fine)
A sad example of misunderstood Anglophilia. One of the stupidest translations ever!

Jaw Line
New problem area on the body of older people. Must be corrected with facial yoga and massage.

Kreativen, die (creatives, creative persons)
Euphemistic job title for people who work in pointless media jobs.

Liebs!
Probably from the English “Love it!” Has unfortunately made its way from Insta-comment columns into the spoken language.

Mindset
Unfortunately, it has moved from the jargon of the life-support industry into everyday language.

Neurodivergente Eigenschaften (neurodivergent characteristics)
Widespread digital self-diagnosis to shift responsibility for one’s own actions. Only works because neurodivergent traits are found in more and more people.

Oops!
Deliberately unconventional. A casual expression of regret or surprise.

Proaktiv (proactive)
In stilted office jargon, the usual meaningless intensification of “active”. Necessary when “active” is no longer sufficient to express the urge to show great diligence and the ability to act with foresight.

Qualitativ gut (Qualitatively good)
Inflated, imposing vocabulary

Rocken (to rock)
No longer used in the rock and pop scene for over 30 years, only in offices or at conferences of the conservative German Party CSU (Christian Social Union). For example: “We’ll rock it together!”
  
Sohnemann, mein (son man, my)
Outdated, but still often used to express pride in having fathered male offspring.

Triggert/ Toxisch/ Trauma (triggers/toxic/trauma)
Once only used in therapy, now everywhere. Because when everything is toxic, you quickly become triggered and re-traumatised.

Upskilling
Widely used term for further education. In a neo-liberal society, we all have to constantly improve ourselves and need new words to do so.

Voll! (exactly! – lit. “full”)
Irritating short and affirmative word from the Austrian region. Used when speakers are too lazy to formulate their agreement in a full sentence.
 
Was macht das mit Ihnen? (What does that do to you?)
Very common! Replaces the good old “How does that make you feel?”, which recognises the person being addressed as the acting object. With “What does this do to you?” the person becomes a passive object to whom something has been done. Perhaps it comes from the language of therapy or was invented by Markus Lanz, of a very well-known talk show in Germany.

X-beliebig (X-anything)
A condescending expression intended to convey arbitrariness but suggesting linguistic apathy.  
 
Yummy
Something from the English baby language for a change. Replaces the ubiquitous, unattractive lecker, aims to be cosmopolitan but always comes across as highly infantile.
 
Zeitnah (ASAP; lit. “close to time”) 
Stylised office jargon, originally from the planning world.