11/12/2025
The Polish “Youth Word of the Year” was just revealed and it is “szpont” (a noun)/ “szponcić” (verb).
If you are wondering what it means, the PWN Publishing House, which since 2016 has been organizing the vote for the “Youth Word of the Year”, offers the following explanation on its website: “These words, previously present in historical and regional Polish, as well as in old criminal jargon, traditionally referred to "troublemaking," "scheming," or "cheating." In today's youth language, they have taken on a new meaning – primarily describing spontaneous, energetic action, often improvised and not always entirely consistent with the rules. The word "szpont," on the other hand, serves as a description of the result of such actions: an episode that adds color to everyday situations or indicates an unexpected coincidence.”
The other 14 contenders for the title of the 2025 “Youth Word of the Year” were: “67”, “okpa”, “bro”, “twin”, “klasa”, “freaky”, ”fr”, “lowkey”, “skibidi”, “GOAT”, “tough”, “slay”, szacun, and “brainrot”. If you are not sure what some of them mean (although the meaning of a few you can deduce, as they were borrowed from English) you are not alone. Many people in Poland have the same problem, as these words reflect the youth culture which changes quickly and is heavily influenced by social media, music and global trends, but also tends to be arcane. Fortunately, there is an online dictionary which keeps up with the new words (even very obscure and rare ones) as well as their usage: https://www.miejski.pl/
In the past, the following words won the title of “Youth Word of the Year”: sztos, XD, dzban, alternatywka, śpiulkolot, essa, rel and sigma (2024).
Here is how the vote is organized. During its first stage (this year: October 8 – November 5) anyone could propose a word, and send it in, including its meaning and an example of its usage. Then from the submitted entries the special jury selects 15 of the most frequently used words and opens the vote for the “Youth Word of the Year” to the public.
Anybody who is paying attention to the contemporary Polish vernacular, especially of young Poles in the cities, notices their unabashed tendency to use English words without any trepidation, or a feeling that by doing so they perhaps corrupt the Polish language. The same tendency is visible in some professional jargons, where English words are used sometimes even if one can find existing Polish equivalents. Why? As Dr. Agnieszka Cierpich-Kozieł of the Jagiellonian University explains to BBC News Polska: “Anglicisms are short, convenient, and precise. Thanks to them, we can more accurately name various activities or phenomena.”
Text: Alina Klin
Read more about the “Youth Word of the Year : https://pwn.pl/aktualnosci-od-pwn/mlodziezowe-slowo-roku-2025-wybrane/
Tomasz Schafernaker, Weekend po polsku? Od anglicyzmów nie uciekniemy, https://www.bbc.com/polska/articles/c4g8j3ndnjlo
