Swiss teens name würd mi first youth word of the year
Tuesday 27th October 2026 on 06:01 in
Switzerland
Young people in German-speaking Switzerland have chosen “würd mi” as the region’s first youth word of the year, SRF reported. The phrase is short for “das würde mich nerven”, meaning “that would annoy me”.
A 10-member jury of teenagers aged 14 to 19 selected the expression. It took second place with “nöd so deep”, meaning “not so serious”, followed by the English-derived “peak”, used to mean “great” or “excellent”.
The jury chose from 140 candidates submitted by young people aged 13 to 20 across Switzerland. Researchers and students from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) attended the deliberations, but the decision was left to the teenagers. The rules excluded proper names, derogatory terms and expressions that could be seen as political statements. A connection to Switzerland was encouraged, and words already chosen as youth words in other countries were to be avoided.
Jury members said they liked that “würd mi” was distinctly Swiss German and could be used in a range of everyday situations. The other German-speaking finalists reflect the influence of English: “nöd so deep” adapts “not that deep” into Swiss German, while “peak” comes from the English word for a summit or high point. The latter can also be used ironically after a mishap.
The French-speaking jury chose “goumin”, meaning heartbreak or emotional pain, as its winner. The term comes from Nouchi, an Ivorian slang, and spread through West Africans living in France before gaining wider circulation on social media. Second place went to “pain”, literally “bread” but used in French youth slang for an attractive person. “Battle d’aura”, a contest to show who has the most style or charisma, came third.
In Italian-speaking Switzerland, “aura”, meaning charisma, took first place. The term is used playfully: people can gain aura points for positive behaviour and lose them after an embarrassing moment. It was also named Germany’s youth word of the year in 2024. “Chill”, meaning to relax, came second, followed by “crazy”, used to describe something as crazy or intense.
It was the first time Switzerland held a vote for its own youth words. The ZHAW organised the selection; the institution has also overseen the Swiss word of the year vote since 2017.