Jugendwort 2010: Niveaulimbo

[Ben Zimmer]

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We've all tried the limbo dance - bending backwards to walk under a
horizontal pole that is lowered with each round - and most of us have
likely landed on our rear ends. This week, the slang term
"Niveaulimbo" - literally, "limbo of standards" - was named Germany's
Youth Word of the Year by the Langenscheidt publishing house. Young
people in Germany use the newly invented word to complain about the
ever worsening quality of a TV programs, the atmosphere at a party
that thins out before midnight, or a conversation that quickly hits
the gutter when alcohol is involved and bad jokes spiral into even
worse jokes.
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--bgz

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Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org