The word of the year was named in Germany

BERLIN Dec 3 The German Language Society (GfdS) has recognized the Wellenbrecher as the word 2021 (literally «breakwater»), which in German refers to all measures taken to combat the spread of coronavirus, according to a press release from the organization. «The word 2021 is a breakwater. This word means everything measures that have been taken to stop the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, «the press release says. A breakwater in the original sense of the word refers to hydraulic structures on the banks of water bodies that dampen the energy of waves in the coastal zone in order to reduce potential destruction. At the same time, in epidemiology in relation to the dynamics of the incidence, the word «waves» is used, which refers to an increase in incidence with subsequent peak and decrease. In Germany, an increase in incidence continues from August-September, which local experts consider the fourth wave of a pandemic for Germany. To «break» the wave, restrictive measures are introduced, which are called Wellenbrecher. Also, GfdS emphasizes, Wellenbrecher can be called a person who complies with such measures. «Become a breakwater!» — gives the society an example of word usage. GfdS emphasizes that how long this term will remain in active use depends on whether the pandemic can be completely suppressed. Traditionally, GfdS released a list of nine more words that were played in the past year a special role in public discussion. In second place is SolidARnost, the name of a charity event to support victims of the devastating floods in western Germany in July. The allocation of the letters AR is associated with the name of the river in the valley of which the greatest destruction took place — Ar (Ahr). In third place is Pfexit, formed by analogy with Brexit, but the first root comes from Pflege (nursing). This word denotes the phenomenon of leaving the nursing profession due to difficult working conditions and low wages, which is one of the central problems in Germany amid the pandemic. «A very interesting choice.» Philologist about the words of 2021 in Russia Other words of the top ten — Impfpflicht (compulsory vaccination), Ampelparteien (parties of the traffic light coalition of Social Democrats, Greens, Free Democrats — party colors correspond to the gamut of traffic lights), Lockdown-Kinder (children of lockdown, used for designation of all children living in conditions of social restrictions), Booster (booster, additional vaccination against COVID-19), freitesten (pass a negative coronavirus test for admission to events or institutions), Triell (triel — a format of an electoral debate with the participation of three people , which was heavily used before the 2021 Bundestag elections), fünf nach zwölf (five minutes after midnight, an expression from the rhetoric of climate activists, indicating that the time to take action is already behind). Last year, the GfdS called the coronavirus pandemic (German: Corona -Pandemie), lockdown and conspiracy narrative became the «words of the year» in Germany. The word «lockdown» comes from the English language and in the context of a pandemic refers to a strict regime of restrictive measures, usually limiting activity outside the home. Although the regime of restrictive measures was not officially called lockdown in Germany and these measures rarely really corresponded to the widespread understanding of lockdown, journalists and ordinary citizens used this borrowed word to describe the measures imposed by the authorities. -0- Cambridge English Dictionary named the main word of 2021