After a year of global turmoil, austerity measures and scandals at home and overseas - but also of musical triumph - the University of Applied Sciences in Zurich (ZHAW) has once again tried to summarise the spirit of the last 12 months in its Swiss Words of the Year. This time around, the words of the year focused on ongoing debates in Switzerland and abroad, and the tumultuous weather seen across the spring and summer.

ZHAW's Swiss Word of the Year 2024

To determine the Word of the Year for 2024, ZHAW used its software to analyse over 1,2 million words from 2,3 million texts which were composed by people in Switzerland in 2024. The programme then chose 30 words from each of the country's four national languages, which were then whittled down to three per language by a panel of experts.

The words chosen are those which took on new or unique meanings in Switzerland this year, be it through a political event or via increased use in the discourse. “In the eyes of the jury, political events in particular have had a strong impact this year and the landslides caused by climate change and extreme weather have irreversibly changed Switzerland," noted ZHAW linguist Marlies Whitehouse.

Signature scam is the Swiss German Word of the Year

This year, signature scam (Unterschriften-Bschiss) was selected as the Swiss German Word of the Year for 2024. The term itself refers to the signature scandal that rocked Swiss politics this year.

In September, it was revealed that in an attempt to collect enough signatures to get their proposals to referendum, many political groups paid companies thousands of francs to gather signatures for them. An investigation later revealed that these firms were supplying thousands of fake registrations.

The impact of the scandal was felt across the political divide, with proposals from the No 10 Million Switzerland! and Neutrality Initiative to the import ban on foie gras and Service-Citoyen proposal being affected. “The signature scam has damaged trust in the democratic Swiss voting system,” ZHAW wrote. 

Ceasefire, non-binary and second home round out Swiss words of 2024

For 2024, the word ceasefire (cessez-le-feu) took first place in French-speaking Switzerland. Following the Hamas attack on October 7, and ensuing Israeli bombardments and military incursions into both Gaza and Lebanon, discussions of a ceasefire are not surprising.

In Italian Switzerland, the word non-binary (non binario) was chosen as the word of the year. This is a reference to singer Nemo, who won the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland in 2024. They have since used the win to call for a third gender to be added to Swiss registers and official documents, a request which is still being debated.

Finally, second home (segundimorant:a) was the word of the year for the Romansh. Amid a record shortage of housing, many Romansh communities in the mountains have called for more restrictions on second homes, which they argue raise prices and deny housing supply to locals.

Swiss Words of the Year for 2024

In all, here are the three Words of the Year for 2024, for each language of Switzerland:

• Unterschriften-Bschiss (signature scam)
• Divers (diverse) - a reference to the diversity of opinions expressed during Swiss referendums this year.
• Murgang (mudslide) - referring to the landslides which gripped areas of the mountains during the summer.
• Cessez-le-feu (ceasefire)
• Consentement (consent) - in 2024, the word was increasingly used as a symbol in the fight against domestic, sexual and extra-marital violence against women in Switzerland.
• Quoicoubeh - an evolution of the French language, used by young people as a response to someone questioning something incomprehensible they just said.
• Non binario (non-binary)
• Allerta meteo (weather alarm) - referring to the terrible weather seen in Switzerland over the spring and summer.
• Nomofobia (fear or being without a mobile phone) - referring to the Comparis study which found 54 percent of 16 to 35-year-olds in Switzerland show signs of mobile phone addiction.
• Segundimorant:a (second home)
• Vegliadissem (age discrimination) - a reference to the various pension votes in Switzerland this year, and the withdrawal of Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States.
• Festivitads (celebrations) - referring to the 500th anniversary of when the Three Leagues came together to form Canton Graubünden.

For more information about the study, check out the ZHAW website.

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