Germany's top 10 Words of the Year

"Postfaktisch," or post-truth politics, was a worldwide phenomenon observed in 2016. Several political campaigns were based on appeals to emotions rather than facts. During the US presidential debates, Donald Trump got fact-checkers working overtime - but in the end, his outright lies apparently didn't matter at all.

A term abbreviated from "British exit," the word dominated many discussions in Europe in 2016, as a referendum was held in the UK in June to decide whether it should leave the European Union.

The connotations for "Silvesternacht" (New Year's Eve) used to be purely festive. After the massive sexual assaults that took place in Cologne on December 31, 2015, the term is loaded with a new meaning in Germany, associated with the difficult debate on the integration of refugees.

This one can be difficult to translate precisely: "Schmähung" means blasphemy, abuse, dispraise, sarcasm, so "Schmähkritik" is abusive criticism. It was the title of satirist Jan Böhmermann's defamatory poem targeting Turkey's President Erdogan, which unleashed a diplomatic row, lawsuits and debates on freedom of expression.

The German media attributed many political and financial developments to the "Trump effect." His style has certainly influenced many other populist politicians, and his surprising election put Europeans on alert mode, giving many far-right parties hope that they too could reproduce Trump's unexpected triumph.

Another "German" expression adopted from English, social bots are computer programs that interact on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, simulating human behavior. They are used to promote products or political ideas. It's becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish them from real people, which is why they can influence public opinion.

It means "bad blood" and it was an expression used by Turkish President Erdogan to criticize German parliamentarians with Turkish roots who voted to recognize Turkey's massacre of Armenians at the beginning of the 20th century as genocide. The Society for the German Language finds it worrying that such nationalist terms are being used in politics.

The weeks preceding Halloween this year were affected by a "creepy clown" craze, with pranksters dressing that way in different countries to deliberately scare people. The German word to describe them is "Gruselclown."

The burkini ban voted upon in France this year was also widely discussed in Germany. The burkini is a portmanteau word combining burka, the garment worn by some Muslim women that covers the entire body and veils the face with an opening for the eyes, and bikini.

The title of this beloved children's book by Janosch was translated in English as "The Trip to Panama" but the original title is literally, "Oh, how beautiful is Panama." The cultural reference was often used by the German media when the Panama Papers were leaked in April 2016. The offshore financial records exposed widespread global corruption.