As we wrap up 2020 the coronavirus continues to form our lives and language. Despite the fact that we hoped we’d be capable to toss all matters COVID in the trash along with our made use of up 2020 day planners, that is naturally not heading to be the situation as the virus circumstances and deaths carry on to surge to new heights.
As of this week, with the initially situation of the virus recorded in Antarctica, COVID-19 is now on each and every continent on the earth.
It is no surprise pandemic was the word of the year in accordance to equally Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com. The Peoples Decision 2020 Word of the 12 months, in accordance to Dictionary.com, was unparalleled yet again, no surprise. Other words or expressions that infected our day to day lexicon this year included asymptomatic, call tracing, flatten the curve, frontliner, furlough, herd immunity, hydroxychloroquine, infodemic, lockdown, crucial/nonessential, PPE, pod, immunocompromised, quarantine, shelter in area, social distancing, superspreader, twindemic and viral load.
Definitely not an uplifting or cheerful listing but do not allow it be reported that we don’t have a perception of humor or aren’t linguistically clever even in “coronapocalypse.”
We commenced employing the science fiction trope “before instances,” imagine Star Trek’s 1966 “Miri” episode or, if you desire feel, “Remember in the prior to instances when we could dance until we dropped in the mosh pit at a live performance?” Yeah, me neither.
We gave the virus a nickname in the hope, I guess, of producing it a lot less frightening. We called it “rona” and the longer we were on lockdown we experienced from “ronasomnia,” the lack of ability to drop asleep since we’d invested all working day sitting on out butts “doomscrolling” by way of our social media and news feeds for the most current news on “Miss Rona.”
We rode the “coronacoaster” jointly with every single new shutdown order offering ourselves “coronacuts” with Flobees we ordered from Amazon. And afterwards we regretted possessing manufactured the cuts just after we’d, shaken, not stirred, and imbibed a “quarantini” or two — or perhaps it was a pitcher “coronaritas.”
We stood on scales and bemoaned getting attained the “COVID-10” from all that dang snacking while binge observing the Tiger King often alone and occasionally with people on our “quaranteam “(or in our “bubble” or “pod”). We collectively suffered from Zoom-exhaustion as we tried to make the ideal of the keep-at-home get by contacting it a “coronacation” which, in reality, we all preferred to “covexit.”
We observed ourselves way above utilizing the adjective travel-by when we talked about graduations, fundraisers, curbside grocery decide on-up and virus tests. And, daily turned “Blursday.”
The “quarnteens” had been no for a longer period the only kinds having breakouts, income for Clearasil skyrocketed as we all began to get “maskne” on our cheeks and chins
We shortened doing work from house to WFH and some of us acquired “zumped” by our employers or major other by way of the movie platform that experienced us all hunting like contestants on Hollywood Squares or Alice from the Brady Bunch.
In the new ordinary the WHO grew to become the World Health and fitness Group not, the English rock band.
And, we’ve all endured the “fattening of the curve” as the “covidiots,” “maskholes “and “moronviruses” refuse to mask-up, social length and wash their arms.
As we all now know also very well, a pandemic is described as “a disorder commonplace during an overall nation, continent, or the full earth.” And nevertheless, no subject how numerous puns or performs on words and phrases we creatively use to describe COVID-19 and the situations it has us all dwelling in, the loss of everyday living and livelihood triggered by this pandemic defies definition.