The character "#" is "Swiss Word of the Year
One example is the «Swiss Word of the Year 2014.» A six-member jury led by Radio SRF 3 selected the hashtag #—also known as “Gartenhag”—from well over 1,000 nominations.
# has been in common use in social media for some time and appears to be a sign of contemporary communication, Swiss radio SRF wrote in a statement on Wednesday. For the jury, # stands for an increasing condensation, even keywording of language. The symbol also stands for the fact that young people today get to the point quickly and "that everyone communicates everything at any time, even very private things," the statement said. However, many things also became public last year that basically no one wanted to know.
Unword of the Year: "Density Stress
The jury also crowned the "Unword of the Year. In this category, "density stress" won the race. The jury wrote that it was tired of the expression and found that "anyone who wants to build a garden shed around our country, as it were, and complains about "density stress" in tranquil Switzerland has never experienced such a thing." The phrase of the year was coined by meteorologists this summer: "It remains unsettled." The jury particularly liked this expression because it contains a contradiction and thus characterizes the major weather situation in this country quite well, according to the statement.
The "Swiss Word of the Year" campaign has been held under the direction of SRF 3 since 2003. The jury this year included Martin Suter, Pedro Lenz, Bänz Friedli, Hazel Brugger, Daniel Quaderer and Ursula Schubiger. (SDA)
