When the most respected dictionary in the German-speaking world releases its 26th edition on Friday, of the 5,000 new words that are to be taken on board, one has received far more publicity than any other.

"Shitstorm"was first recorded in German usage in 2010, where it specifically refers to widespread and vociferous outrage expressed on the internet – especially on social media platforms – has been deemed to be so popular by lexicographers that it has earned its place.

The fact that Angela Merkel thinks nothing of dropping the word into press conferences and round-table discussions, has no doubt help speed its way up the word queue. The Guardian first caught her using it in June 2012 during a discussion in Berlin with David Cameron, when she referred to having faced a "shitschturm" (her pronunciation) over her dealings with crisis-ridden southern Europe.

A German protestant bishop, who recently faced a shitstorm himself, has called it the "modern-day equivalent of a stoning". The opposite (which has yet to enter Duden) is "candystorm", that to Germans has a close association with the US "candy bomber" planes which dropped sweets from the skies for children during the Soviet blockade of west Berlin in 1948 to 1949.

In fact, shitstorm – which was voted Germany's anglicism of the year in 2011 – is typical of a growing number of English words that have entered the German language over the past few decades. Some are given the same definition they have in English, while others, like shitstorm (which in English, until now, has merely referred to a messy and repulsive situation) have been tweaked by German users to fit their needs. The one most commonly-referred to is "Handy" for mobile phone. When English native speakers fail to understand it, Germans often scratch their heads in bewilderment, having been convinced it was a popular English word. Another is "wellness", a generic term to describe the health-farm industry and all it offers (massage, ayurveda, etc). This year Duden will even take in the verb "wellnessen".

Other newcomers to the dictionary, described as the "door frame of the German language", which was founded in the late 19th century and now contains 140,000 words, are "crossdressing", "digital native", "social media", "flashmob", "e-book Reader", "app" and "Facebook'", which, unlike "Twitter" or the verb "twittern", has been waiting in the wings since the last update in 2009 ("we wanted to be sure that it would stick around," a Duden spokesman explained).

So why the German penchant for taking on new, so obviously non-German words, when, in contrast, the French, for instance, show such resistance? It is a sensitive topic in Germany, where language purists are sometimes accused of being too closed to the outside world, a charge that most Germans, due to their 20th century-history, do not appreciate.

"It is considered fashionable to acknowledge these multi-cultural linguisms, as in so doing you are able to distance yourself from the reek of German chauvinism," according to German Radio's Burkhard Müller-Ullrich. And as a commentator in Die Welt put it, in an age that's dominated by technology "it's impossible to ignore anglicisms".

But even the great German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who died in 1832, acknowledged that the German tongue should be open to outside influences. As in his day, so today there are many language purists who would wish to "germanify" everything, and who deplore the growing creep of what is referred to as "Denglisch", a mix of German and English. Goethe called on them to recognise that sometimes non-German phrases were simply better. "Just tell me how to germanify (the word) 'pedant'?" he asked.