By Hannah Southwood
Van Herk (2018) explores how language changes based on place, social status and time. These three topics are entering a new phase experienced at more or less the same time due to the coronavirus pandemic. Two examples given by Van Herk (2018) explore the physical isolation of both Newfoundland English and Québec French. In both cases the languages were ‘cut off’ from the rest of the developing groups, both keeping some of the old language features.
We see the opposite happening on a global scale as business meetings and classes are taken online. Regardless of place, social status or time, similar words and phrases are becoming a part of our everyday vocabulary and understood across the globe. Some of these terms and phrases existed well before the pandemic, but because of their use are now common terms we associate with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here is a list of English medical terms and phrases that are commonplace now:
- Physical & Social Distancing
- Flatten the Curve
- Epidemic & Pandemic
- Respirator & Ventilator
- Isolation & Quarantine
- Asymptomatic
- Contact tracing
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Here is a list of new terms and phrases in English:
- Zoom Fatigue
- Let’s Zoom
- Covid bubble
- Learning Pod or Class Bubble
- Elbow bump
- Blursday
- Covidiot
- New normal
Here are a few examples in other languages and their explanations:
- Geisterspiel (German) for no fans in the stadium
- Coronaspeck (German) for getting fat during covid
- Quatorzaine (French) for 14-days of isolation
As you can see, unlike languages being cut off from others, here in our digital age with social media as a driving force, old words and phrases become ‘new’, important and forever associated with COVID-19. Newer words and phrases to deal with and explain the new normal will forever be in our vocabularies, pulling them out when needed and knowing others understand. I personally will continue using the word “blursday” because sometimes days blur together even without a pandemic.
Are there any new words or phrases I missed? Please leave them in the comments below.
References
Do you speak corona? A guide to covid-19 slang. (n.d.). The Economist. Retrieved November 6, 2020, from https://www.economist.com/1843/2020/04/08/do-you-speak-corona-a-guide-to-covid-19-slang
Jackson, P. (2020, April 14). Language of a pandemic: A glossary of commonly used words and phrases related to COVID-19. Thetelegram.com. https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/language-of-a-pandemic-an-glossary-of-commonly-used-words-and-phrases-related-to-covid-19-437420/
Lawson, R. (n.d.). Coronavirus has led to an explosion of new words and phrases – and that helps us cope. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-has-led-to-an-explosion-of-new-words-and-phrases-and-that-helps-us-cope-136909
New words list April 2020. (n.d.). Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved November 6, 2020, from https://public.oed.com/updates/new-words-list-april-2020/
The Coronavirus Slang Words That Are Defining This Outbreak. (n.d.). Dictionary.com. Retrieved November 6, 2020, from https://www.dictionary.com/e/s/new-words-we-created-because-of-coronavirus/#1
Van Herk, G. (2018). What is sociolinguistics? (Second, Ser. Linguistics in the world). John Wiley & Sons.
