In German it is possible to easily make up new words, thanks to our affinity for compound words. Every year new words are created this way, expressing the public consciousness. Since 1971 the Society of the German Language has chosen a word of the year, celebrating our linguistic creativity. But if you can create new words to express developments in society, you can also express it's ugly side. Entering the Unwort (anti-word or un-word). Since 1991 a committee of linguist chose the Unwort des Jahres. Going over the list of these words can make you lose faith in humanity. There is

Wohlstandsmüll (prosperity waste) - Deprecatory term coined by Helmut Maucher (then CEO of Nestlé) during an interview, referring to people who are either presumed unable or reluctant to find employment, who in his opinion exist because of the highly developed welfare and social support systems in Germany.

betriebsratsverseucht (contaminated by works councils) - This offensive neologism (reportedly used internally by the Bauhaus management) describes a business with a strong works council, which takes care of the interests of the employees and thus presses for concessions on the employer's side.

Döner-Morde (döner murders) - A term used by police investigators to describe a series of murders of mostly Turkish shop and restaurant owners between 2000 and 2006, originally attributed to presumed links of the victims to organized crime groups. In 2011, it was revealed that, in fact, all of these murders were racial hate crimes committed by members of a previously unknown terrorist group called National Socialist Underground, which resulted in widespread criticism of the police for their initial determination.

Opfer-Abo (victimization subscription) - The term was coined by Jörg Kachelmann in the wake of a trial against him on sexual assault charges, in order to promote his perception that women had the tendency to repeatedly make false claims of crimes such as rape, to further their interests.

Sozialtourismus (welfare tourism) - The accusation that asylum seekers shop around for the country with the beast social security system to leech off of. Used to defend the use of the Dublin regulations to send asylum seekers back to the country of entry into Europe.

Happy Monday!