There has been protests and heated debate in German-speaking Switzerland over the vaccination and use of a Covid-certificate.

Switzerland's Words of the Year reflect debates and divisions

2021-12-08 07:55:13

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) There has been protests and heated debate in German-speaking Switzerland over the vaccination and use of a Covid-certificate. Keystone / Urs Flueeler

The 2021 Words of the Year in Switzerland reflect societal shifts that have triggered heated debate across the country. While the vaccination debate and divisions dominated the German-speaking part of the country, the emergence of gender-neutral pronouns were a hot topic in the French-speaking part.

This content was published on December 8, 2021 - 12:55 December 8, 2021 - 12:55 Keystone-SDA/jdp

The words chosen in Switzerland's four linguistic regions“show what society is thinking about and what moves it”, explained the Department of Applied Linguistics at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), which announced the winners on Tuesday.

This year was no exception, with Impfdurchbruch (vaccination breakthrough) claiming the 2021 Word of the Year in German-speaking Switzerland.“There's a lot in that word. Vaccination should bring about a breakthrough, restore normality,” jury president Marlies Whitehouse told Swiss public television, SRF.

At the same time, the virus can't simply be vaccinated away.“It breaks through again and again – be it with new variants or so-called vaccination breakthroughs,” ZHAW said in a statementExternal link . The choice of the word also captures how hotly debated vaccination has been in the country, particularly in German-speaking Switzerland.

The tensions are also reflected in entfreunden (to unfriend someone), which was the third word to make the list.“Friendships were put to the test by the vaccination debate,” ZHAW said.“Suddenly, insurmountable rifts opened up between those who wanted to be vaccinated and those who refused.” But the word also reflects the ease with which people are unfriending or cancelling friendships on social media with the touch of button, it added.

Starkregen (strong rain) took the second spot after a summer of heavy rainfall that intensified calls to address climate change.

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