Every year, Germany’s youth select their annual “Youth Word of the Year,” which is voted on by young people throughout the country.

Previously, Germans who were astonished by the craziness or absurdity of something would exclaim, “Das ist verrückt.”

However, young Germans have a better option: “Das crazy,” which skips the grammatically acceptable phrase formation by waving Auf Wiedersehen to the “ist”.

“Das crazy” has now been named this year’s Youth Word of the Year, according to the Langenscheidt Verlag publishing house, which conducts the voting each year at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The phrase was chosen via an online ballot accessible to young people aged 11 to 20, with two million people participating this year.

According to the publisher, “Das crazy” is a “all-purpose weapon” that is frequently used when someone doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t feel like answering, or simply wants to stay nice in order to continue the conversation.

The slang term “goonen” refers to extended masturbation or excessive pornography use. In a statement, the Langenscheidt group stated that it intended to be open about sexual concepts, but also cautioned that excessive self-gratification might lead to dopamine addiction and harmful sexual expectations.

“Checkst du” (literally: “Do you check?”) is a variation on “Do you understand?” and is used at the end of a phrase to confirm that the other person is still on board.

Langenscheidt observed that the findings demonstrate the substantial effect of the English language and the tendency toward linguistic simplicity. They also demonstrate the impact of internet culture on languages, since “Das crazy” can be found all over social media platforms.

Furthermore, it can emphasize that the world isn’t getting any saner at the time, implying that new means of expressing lunacy are not just valuable but depressingly necessary.

The Youth Word of the Year competition began in 2008 and was finally handed over to German youth five years ago. Before that, anyone could vote. In 2020, the vote was limited to people aged 11 to 20, ensuring that the picked term accurately reflects young linguistic culture.

Last year, the word “Aura” was named Youth Word of the Year. It replaced “goofy” in 2023, which used the bumbling Disney character to describe someone quirky or awkward. 2022 had “smash” (picking someone up or having sex with someone, derived from the dating game “Smash or Pass”); 2021’s young triumphant was “cringe” (a description to refer to something or someone as embarrassing); and 2020’s winner was “lost” (a lack of direction or perspective).