"Elk Emil" Chosen as Word of the Year 2025

"Elk Emil" not only caused a media stir with its journey through Lower and Upper Austria, but it also managed to become the Austrian Word of the Year 2025. As the Society for Austrian German (GSÖD) further announced on Thursday, the "discount sticker" secured the title of Non-Word of the Year, and the mysterious number sequence "6 7 (six seven)" became the Youth Word - over 28,000 people participated in the election and pre-election.

"Elk Emil" is the new Word of the Year

This was the highest participation in the annual vote so far, reported the GSÖD, and it led to a total of 135,351 votes in five categories. In addition to the three chosen words, there were also two phrases to determine: "Only those who burn inside can shine" - a remark by the new Archbishop of Vienna, Josef Grünwidl - was the positive winner of the year.

The negative phrase also has a connection to the Catholic Church and reads: "We will deport him when he comes out of his monastery walls." The statement comes from FPÖ chairman Herbert Kickl and was directed at the Archbishop of Salzburg, Franz Lackner. According to the GSÖD jury, Lackner had previously warned against politically exploiting religion and indirectly referred to the FPÖ. Kickl thus secured the victory in this category for the second time in a row, having achieved it in 2024 with the adaptation of the Lord's Prayer "Your will be done".

"6 7 (six seven)" also prevailed

In the selection of the three words, the omnipresent youth word "6 7 (six seven)" was the clear winner with 50 percent. The GSÖD in Graz described it as "a communication signal used by young people to indicate their affiliation with a trend or an (online) community (in connection with a specific hand gesture)." By using it, one identifies "as part of the group, as an insider who knows and understands the joke."

The non-word "Rabattpickerl" won with 27 percent of the votes and is considered by the GSÖD as "a misleading term because merchants calculate the discounts in advance, as revealed in an interview with a senior employee of a trading company in the Salzburger Nachrichten." However, customers have apparently seen through this marketing strategy, which led to outraged reactions and discussions as well as significant media attention, it was said. The selection was conducted by the Society for Austrian German in Graz with the support of the APA - Austria Press Agency.

National Football Team Can Rejoice

The World Cup qualification of the Austrian men's football team also ensured that there is a "jury-selected saying of the year." This is "Das Crazy Oida" and was displayed on a poster with which the ÖFB team presented itself after the final whistle at the decisive match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on November 18. However, since these words became known only after the start of the voting, the jury decided on a special way to honor it.

"Elch Emil" (28 percent), who became an Austrian by choice and a media star for a short time in mid-August, has already moved on: After the animal was sedated on September 22 due to its approach to a highway junction in Upper Austria and transported to the Bohemian Forest, it turned its back on the country and trotted into the Czech part of the nature reserve.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.