The word of the year 2013 in Germany is GroKo, short for Grosse Koalition, the temporary political marriage of the two big parties, the elephants in parliament.
Pompously translated as "grand coalition", this frequent constellation of government at the federal level stands for business as usual, a likely quiet four years ahead.
Since the junior partner SPD (the social democrats) had, a first in Germany, a vote by the party rank and file on the coalition agreement, it is fair to say that the wrangling and backroom dealing has more democratic support than in previous years. And, most importantly, there are more female ministers than before.
The choice of GroKo as the word of the year by the self-styled guardians of the German language has drawn some criticism and ridicule.
But, in our opinion, it reflects the business as usual atmosphere much more than even the selection panel may realize.
Take two well established components, join them together using the rule that both have to give up something, add a little bit of spice - more women in the government version, an ever so slightly capitalized letter K in the word of the year - and all is well.
Since the proof is in the pudding, only the coming years will tell how it all works out.
Do the Germans know how lucky they are that they don't have Christmas pudding?
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