Getty In the words of young Germans, just ‘merkeln’ Angela Merkel inspires German dictionary manufacturer’s youth word of 2015.

The German dictionary manufacturer Langenscheidt came up with the idea seven years ago to to create a list of new words and expressions invented by teens by selecting the “Jugendwort” (Youth Word of the Year). And since then, young Germans have been invited to submit terms to an online board.

The vote is now on to select their favorite from 30 new expressions.

Their current first choice? “merkeln.”

Using Chancellor Angela Merkel’s name as a verb — and not a flattering one — “merkeln” means to be unable to take decisions or give your own opinions and can be used to describe someone who just stays there without doing anything.

Other high scoring words include “Smombie,” “Earthporn,” and “rumoxidieren,” each combining politics, pop culture and scathing comment.



Previous winning words have represented trending terms in pop culture, including 2012 winner “YOLO” — you only live once— and 2011’s “swag” — a shortened form of swagger — as they search for a phrase that is “100 percent youth language” to include in their evolving e-book on language.

For the first time in the competition’s history, one word was removed from the list. “Alpha-Kevin,” meaning “the most stupid of all,” proved highly popular. “It was not our intention to discriminate against specific persons,” the site said.

The vote continues until Oct. 31, when a jury will take the 10 most popular words, select the word of the year and create a top-five ranking.