Jugendwörter des Jahres mit Susanne Daubner

What does “Aura” mean in German youth slang?

Asked about recent Jugendwörter (“youth words”) on camera, a teenager rattles off cringe, goofy, and Aura — all borrowed straight from English, all reshaped with German meanings. Aura here doesn’t mean a mystical glow; it means overall vibe or presence — “du hast 'ne gute Aura” is “you give off good energy.” It topped Langenscheidt’s Jugendwort-des-Jahres vote in 2024.

German youth slang currently mixes two sources: straight English loans like cringe (embarrassing-to-watch) and goofy (endearingly silly), which keep their English spelling and pronunciation almost untouched, alongside older German words like Aura given a new, internet-flavored meaning rather than borrowed whole. The annual Jugendwort vote is Langenscheidt’s publicity campaign as much as linguistics, but it’s a reliable snapshot of which words have actually stuck in real teenage conversation that year.