THE JURY HAS REACHED A DECISION: “Students” Is the Word of the Year, While the Biggest “Lie Word” Is “Students Who Want to Study,” and the Best New Word Is “Ćaci”!

The Philological Society “Reči” announced that its jury proclaimed the word “students” as the word of the year, “students who want to study” as the lie word of the year, and “ćaci” as the new word of the year.

The society organized the selection of Serbian words for the third time in 2025, in three categories: word of the year, lie word of the year, and new word of the year.

In the category of word of the year, the shortlist included the words “ćaci” and “students”; in the category of new word, “ćaci” and “ćacilend”; and in the shortlist for lie word, “students who want to study” and “colored revolution,” FoNet reports.

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The origin of the word “ćaci”

At the beginning of January 2025, a graffiti appeared in front of Jovina Gymnasium in Novi Sad, written in Cyrillic as “Ćaci to school.” A day after a photograph of the graffiti was published on social media, the social and cultural phenomenon “ćaci” became a leading topic. The word “ćaci” generally refers to members and loyalists of the SNS, an uneducated and marginal part of society, as well as those who violate social norms and values in order to achieve their goals. During the year, “ćacilend” also emerged, a sarcastic name for the tent settlement in front of the Serbian Parliament.

Although “ćaci” is a derogatory term, members of the current political elite, including the President of Serbia himself, boasted that they too were “ćaci.”

Students, on the other hand, represent all opposite values, so it is no surprise that they won in the category for word of the year.