‘Monsterbank’ and ‘rubble’ named Swiss Words of the Year

A Palestinian woman walks through rubble in the Gaza Strip on November 23. Keystone / Mohammed Saber

“Monsterbank” is the word of the year in German-speaking Switzerland, followed by “Chatbot” and “Ghosting”, the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) announced on Tuesday.

Monsterbank came top because the relief following the merger of UBS and Credit Suisse was immediately followed by fears that the newly created giant bank could harbour even more risks.

+ Why a monster UBS bank scares Switzerland

The university justifies second place for Chatbot by pointing out that voice robots, which work with artificial intelligence and natural language processing, have caused a furore this year. They have become part of our everyday lives.

Finally, third-placed Ghosting appears to be spreading from interpersonal relationships to other areas of life, according to the ZHAW. For example, the term is now also used when job applicants no longer get in touch.

+ English words in German: a linguistic cliffhanger

The university chooses the words of the year for Switzerland not only in German, but in all four Swiss national languages. In French, “décombres” (rubble) was voted word of the year, in Italian “GPT” and in Romansh “Solarexpress”.

“Of the 1.5 million words highlighted in the corpus compiled by the ZHAW, “décombres” is one of those that will appear most frequently in press articles in 2023,” it said. The term refers both to the earthquakes that have struck Syria and Turkey and to the rubble of war suffered by civilian victims around the world. According to the ZHAW, the word also “highlights the reshaping of a global geopolitical order in competition with the global south”. In Switzerland, “décombres” refers to the collapse of Credit Suisse and the fragility of the financial system.

“Intelligence artificielle” came second. ChatGPT was launched a year ago and, since then, artificial intelligence “has not ceased to occupy the media sphere”, notes ZHAW. Journalism, teaching, translation and artistic creation “have already been hit hard”. “Intelligence artificielle” may well be the word of the decade, it said. “Coûts de la santé” (healthcare costs) came third.

+ English as a common language in Switzerland: a positive or a problem?

The word of the year in Italian-speaking Switzerland is “GPT”, an English abbreviation that is commonly used in Italian to refer to artificial intelligence. It is followed by “tunnel”, in reference to the Gotthard and the problems encountered in the road and rail tunnels, and by “ecoansia” (eco-anxiety).

In Romansh-speaking Switzerland, the word of the year is “Solarexpress”, an initiative to promote photovoltaic installations on Alpine peaks. It is followed by “igl rutsch” (landslide), in reference to the landslide that almost wiped the village of Brienz off the map, and “regulaziun proactive” (proactive regulation), in reference to the decision by the Graubünden parliament to allow the proactive slaughter of an entire pack of wolves.

To find the word of the year, ZHAW researchers compile Swiss texts to draw up a list of particularly frequent words. This list, together with suggestions from the public, forms the basis for the jury’s deliberations in the four languages.

+ ‘Shortage’ dominates Swiss Words of the Year

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