In June 2012, the euro crisis was at its height. Before a European summit at the end of the month, several governments called for jointly issued euro bonds. On 26 June, Chancellor Angela Merkel met the members of parliament of her coalition partner, the FDP. According to participants quoted by Reuters, she told them that there would be no total joint liability for debt solange ich lebe, as long as I live. The day before, she had called shared liability for euro zone debt economically wrong and counterproductive.
Answers That Would Unsettle the Population
On the evening of 17 November 2015, the football match between Germany and the Netherlands in Hanover was canceled at short notice after a terror alert. At a press conference, Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said: Ein Teil dieser Antworten würde die Bevölkerung verunsichern. Part of these answers would unsettle the population. The next day the Green politician Konstantin von Notz said that the minister must make clear statements and darf nicht diffus über Bedrohungen orakeln, must not speak vaguely about threats like an oracle. Dietmar Bartsch of the Left party called it very problematic when a minister unsettles people with hints. De Maizière defended his restraint. Wir können nicht jeden Hinweis dieser Art in der Öffentlichkeit diskutieren. We cannot discuss every tip of this kind in public.
Say What Is
On 11 April 1961 Rudolf Augstein, the founder of Der Spiegel, wrote an editorial addressed Lieber Spiegel-Leser, dear Spiegel reader. In it he named the only way for a journalist to change reality. Er kann sagen, was ist. He can say what is. Today the words Sagen, was ist, to say what is, stand on the wall of the atrium of the Spiegel building at the Ericusspitze in Hamburg. The lettering copies Augstein’s handwriting. The building opened in 2011. Augstein did not invent the phrase. It can be traced back to Rosa Luxemburg.
No Den of Murderers in the Heart
aus seinem Herzen keine Mördergrube machen
To make no den of murderers out of one’s heart. One says openly what one thinks. A blog in the community of the weekly Der Freitag counts it among the phrases that Martin Luther created.
frei von der Leber weg reden
To speak freely from the liver. One says what one thinks, without holding back.
das Herz auf der Zunge tragen
To carry one’s heart on one’s tongue. One says at once what one feels and thinks.
mit offenen Karten spielen
To play with open cards. One hides nothing from the other side.
The Non-Word of the Year
Since 1991 a jury has chosen the Unwort des Jahres, the non-word of the year. Horst Dieter Schlosser started it. Until 1994 the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache, the Society for the German Language, made the choice. Today an independent jury of volunteers in Marburg decides. Its permanent members are four linguists and a journalist, and each year a guest member joins them. Anyone can send in a proposal. Among other things, the jury looks for words that are beschönigend, verschleiernd oder irreführend, glossing over, concealing or misleading. On 13 January 2026 it chose Sondervermögen, special assets, for the year 2025. The jury said that the word hides its real meaning, which is taking on debt.
“It Is Serious”
On 18 March 2020, Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to the country on television about the coronavirus. She did not soften the message. Es ist ernst. Nehmen Sie es auch ernst. It is serious. Take it seriously too. She also said: Die nächsten Wochen werden noch schwerer. The next weeks will be even harder. The rhetoric department of the University of Tübingen named it the speech of the year 2020. On 9 December 2020, in the Bundestag, she backed a call by the national academy of sciences, the Leopoldina, for a hard lockdown over the holidays. She said that if there were too many contacts before Christmas und es anschließend das letzte Weihnachten mit den Großeltern war, dann werden wir etwas versäumt haben, and it then turned out to be the last Christmas with the grandparents, we will have failed to do something.
Fit for War
On 29 October 2023, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius spoke on the ZDF program Berlin direkt. Wir müssen uns wieder an den Gedanken gewöhnen, dass die Gefahr eines Krieges in Europa drohen könnte. We must get used again to the thought that the danger of a war in Europe could threaten. Then he said: Wir müssen kriegstüchtig werden. We must become fit for war. The word kriegstüchtig set off a long debate. The journalist Heribert Prantl called it false and dangerous. The historian Sönke Neitzel noted that most politicians said they understood what Pistorius meant but did not want to say it that way. The military had already used the term. The Inspector General, Carsten Breuer, had used it often since March 2023. Neitzel concluded: Die Politik hinkte dem öffentlichen Diskurs semantisch hinterher. In its words, politics lagged behind the public debate.
Words for How a Win Was Earned
German football talk rarely stops at the score. It also says how the win came about.
ein verdienter Sieg — A deserved win. DWDS gives the example of a cup final that ended mit einem knappen, aber verdienten Sieg, with a narrow but deserved win.
ein glücklicher Sieg — A lucky win. DWDS lists it among the usual ways to describe a win.
der Arbeitssieg — A work win. Duden marks it as sports jargon: a win gained only with effort against an opponent who is actually weaker.
der dreckige Sieg — A dirty win. DWDS: a game won despite a weak performance of one’s own, a win that was not deserved. Coaches often say their team needs one now and then.
der Dusel — Duden: unverdientes Glück, undeserved luck. Since the 1970s the phrase Bayern-Dusel has been used about late, lucky wins of Bayern Munich.
In October 2008 Bayern won luckily at Karlsruhe. The reporter of the club’s own channel, fcb.tv, asked Uli Hoeneß: Haben wir heute wieder die Dusel-Bayern erlebt? Did we see the lucky Bayern again today? Hoeneß answered: Sie müssen sich in der nächsten Woche einen neuen Job suchen! You will have to look for a new job next week. He added that the question would have been understandable as the seventh question. From the club’s own reporter as the first question, he called it hirnverbrannt, brainless. The club’s media director said the reporter had only been standing in. He added that the young man would probably not be used again.
A Grade for Every Player
After big football matches, German newspapers publish an Einzelkritik, an individual review. Each player gets a school grade from 1 to 6 and a one-line verdict. After Bayern Munich’s Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid in April 2012, the Munich Abendzeitung gave goalkeeper Manuel Neuer a 1: Im Elferschießen dann der Held des Abends, then the hero of the evening in the penalty shoot-out. Philipp Lahm got a 2: Kurbelte viele Angriffe nach vorne an, got many attacks going.
The Works Council Chief Before 25,000
On 4 September 2024 the Volkswagen board defended its savings plans before 25,000 employees at a staff assembly in Wolfsburg. At the same assembly, the head of the works council, Daniela Cavallo, said: Volkswagen krankt daran, dass der Vorstand seinen Job nicht macht. Volkswagen is ailing because the board is not doing its job. She called the plans an Armutszeugnis, literally a certificate of poverty, a proof of failure. The chief financial officer told the workforce that the company had one year, perhaps two, to change course. On 20 December 2024 Volkswagen and the IG Metall union reached an agreement.