Your 5-minute crash course in youth language!

1. "Lowkey" 🤫

You lowkey hope the elevator is empty so you don't have to stand next to strangers in embarrassing silence? Or when you lowkey want to snatch the last chocolate from the office kitchen? The term means something like "a little", "unobtrusive" or "subliminal" to express something without being too dramatic.

2. "Rede!" 🗣️
When someone in a meeting finally addresses what everyone is thinking ("The coffee tastes like sweaty feet!"), everyone shouts inwardly: "Speak up!" Exactly what everyone is feeling! It means "Louder! Let everyone hear it!" and expresses approval emphatically when someone has "completely delivert".

3. "Goonen" 🌀
You can't stop picking cookie scraps out of the keyboard even though the deadline is approaching? Congratulations, you're "gooning"! This is the modern term for long, often aimless dwelling on an activity - an endless maelstrom in which you can lose yourself. Originally a slang word for masturbation, it is now used more generally.

4. "Sybau" 🙄
Someone starts talking about the weekend on Mondays like it's a new sport? A lowkey mumbled "sybau" might be appropriate - with a wink, of course! It stands for "Shut your b**** a** up" and is the modern, ironic "Shut the fuck up".

5. "Checkst du" 🤔
You explain for the 17th time how the coffee machine works: "Press the first button, not the second, that's for tea. Do you check?" This expression is used to make sure that the other person really understands what you are talking about and has listened at all.

6. "Schere" 🤦‍♀️
You accidentally shared the PowerPoint duel in the team meeting instead of just the PDF? "Scissors!" This is the digital handshake for "My mistake!", a term from the gaming scene. This is how you own up to your crap.

7. "Das crazy" 🤪
Someone tells a wild story from the last Christmas party and you're speechless? "... and then the boss danced on the table!" Your only answer: "That's crazy." The all-purpose weapon of speechlessness - your "Aha, cool" when you don't feel like giving a detailed answer.

8. "Digga(h)" 🤝
An absolute all-time favorite! "Digga, are you fit?" Or as an exclamation: "Digga, that's crazy!" A classic slang word as a synonym for bro, bro, boyfriend and girlfriend or just any person - your all-purpose buddy term that (almost) always fits everyone.

9. "Tot" 😴
Your PowerPoint has more animations than content and no one laughs at your joke? That's "dead". When the party is lame, everyone is staring at their cell phones: "Dead!" The term describes a situation that is completely off, lame, embarrassing or unintentionally uncool.

10. "Tuff" 💪
You manage to come into the Zoom call at 8 a.m. on Monday motivated and still smile? That's tuff! The slang word comes from the English word "tough", meaning "badass" or "cool". An absolute boss move that takes "impression" to a whole new level!

But enough theory! Of course, we're also interested in what makes our own trainees tick. We asked some of them which word from the top 10 is at the top of their list. "Lowkey" won the race! ✨

You can also access our new reelhere!

So, Digga, if you're already thinking lowkey that we're gooning on a bit too much here - one thing is clear: the language of youth is always good for surprises! 😉

Now is your chance to help decide which of these ten words will win the race. Voting runs until September 2nd! Your vote counts, because the top 3 of the public vote will then go through to the final round. Who knows, maybe your favorite word will soon be the absolute hit and adorn all the front pages this year. Do you check? If not: Speak up! We at lowkey are always here to bring light into the darkness.

Click here to vote.