The age-old concept of aura narrowly defeated a term for a trend among young men with a migrant background and some streetwise accusatory jargon in the 2024 German competition for the Youth Word of the Year.
In a vote by publishing house Langenscheidt, which publishes German dictionaries, among other things, the winning word ‘Aura’, which is used to describe someone’s presence and charisma, was announced live on Saturday at the 76th Frankfurt Book Fair.
Aura came just before the popular term ‘Talahon’, which was used to describe young men from migrant backgrounds in fake designer clothes who often exhibit antisocial behavior.
The term apparently comes from the Arabic for ‘come here’ and stems from a TikTok trend where young men use the term to describe themselves, but Talahons have caused a stir on social media and sparked discussions about sexism, racism, migration and youth culture. .
‘Schere’, the German for scissors, came third in the poll, which in youth circles now means admitting a mistake or taking the blame.
The Youth Word of the Year award has existed since 2008, with ‘goofy’ coming out on top last year.
Since 2020, young people between the ages of 11 and 20 have been voting for the prize winners. According to the publisher, the number of votes submitted in this year’s contest was once again in the high six-figure range.
