Dogzplot Flash Fiction: Word Of The Year

the new issue of Dogzplot Flash Fiction is up. i learned about that in facebook, when i saw the cover image in a note: a visual i know well -it came together in collaboration with Jeff Crouch, in july. it's good to see it online now, fittingly framed in dogzplot dark.

"Word Of The Year" is based on 2 different versions of the "word of the year" list:
- the US words (via wiki): Word_of_the_year
- and combined with those, the German words: Wort des Jahres

this turned out rather interesting, to see the US / German differences and similarities in themes and in focus. the strongest similarity: 2001, with 9-11. and 2008, with the global financial crash.

altogether, it seems that the US terms in these years lean more towards technology, while the German terms tend to refer to the political changes: 1994, four years after the german reunion, a "Supervoteyear" - which didn't bring much change. 1997 is the year of "Reformstau" - "reform-jam" - which then lead to a change of government in 1998: after 16 years of chancellor Kohl / CDU, the tables turned, and the rot-grün ("red-green") opposition turned into government. and in 2005, Merkel became the first female chancellor: "Bundeskanzlerin". and of course, the Euro - the unified european currency. which pops up in 2002 als "Teuro" - a word combination of "Euro" and "teuer" (expensive).

my personal favourite is 2006: plutoed/Fanmeile ("fan mile" - referring to the world soccer cup live streamings in germany)

while at Dogzplot, also check out Mel Bosworth's "Best Purchases of the Year" - it somehow clicks with Word Of Year in one of those brilliant coincidental e-zine theme crossings.

and for some more Jeff Crouch & Dorothee Lang collab visuals, try:
- Confitures d'Oranges (Wheelhouse)
- under s core, real i ty, sed i ment (Compostxt)
- Train Ride Gulag + Strobe Lights (Otoliths)

(more to come :)