In 2015 merkeln, a verb made from the name of Chancellor Angela Merkel, came second in the vote for the Jugendwort des Jahres, the youth word of the year, run by the publisher Langenscheidt. The winner was Smombie. The press explained merkeln as Nichtstun, keine Entscheidungen treffen, keine Äußerungen von sich geben. Doing nothing, making no decisions, saying nothing.
The word is a joke about waiting too long, not praise for patience.