covid speak and other yakety yak...

covid speak and other yakety yak...

 

  It seems every decade or so brings us new expressions or slang that become part of our every day language.  Events within our society can trigger this deluge of linguistic freedom at a moment's notice.  Wars, depressions, cultural revolutions, and even diseases and viruses can alter our go-to words of the moment. 

  HUH? What's up with that? 

  Prior to the hippie counter-culture evolution of the 60s was an era that began after WWII and went through the 50s known as the Beat Generation.  It was started by a group of authors and soon became a literary movement.  Three writers, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs supported the exercise through their writing.  Much of their work embraced alcohol, drugs and greater freedom. 

  It was from the Beat Generation words like, daddy-o, dig, chick, cool, and many others became popular. Some of them have even carried over to today.  

  

  The time period from beatniks to hippies was practically a seamless transition because the two shifts mirrored each other in philosophy and actions.  And, along with both lifestyles came new slang and other verbiage.

  The language of the 60s hipster contingent was also frequently used by the ever-present squares of the day.  Squares were the rest of mankind not involved with the hippie actions.  Bummer, catch some rays, cut out, downer, and, far out, just to name a few, were commonly used by both behaviors.

 

  If a certain event was fantastic, it was considered righteous.  And, something that was righteous was really, really, cool. 

  60s lingo included phrases to describe extraordinary experiences.  Something that was wonderful was outta sight.  If a musical group was exciting, they were fab, thus the Fab Four.   

  Wars and conflicts have also brought us words and phrases that have carried over to civilian life.  WWII gave us radar and obscenities such as snafu and fubar.  From Vietnam we added fragging and an obscene word that begins with cluster..... to the English language.  

  Of course, more recently, we have a whole new language known as social media talk, or 

SMS, but, that's another story in the near future.  

  Medical people, lawyers, ditch diggers, crane operators, and even bank robbers, all have their own jargon foreign to those of us uneducated in those disciplines.  

  

  Now, we have a whole new set of slang and expressions introduced by CoVid-19.  

  In addition to words and expressions, we have had a plethora of metaphors employed just for the virus.  How many times have we heard this journey metaphor or something similar....We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, or, We are coming out of a long tunnel. 

  And, this sports metaphor to explain how long the pandemic can last has certainly been overused, This is not a sprint, it's a marathon.

  The CoVid-19 slang changes have been so significant, that Merriam-Webster announced it was making an unscheduled update to their dictionary.  The New York Times recently issued a coronavirus glossary as did the Reuters news organization.  Even the historical Oxford English Dictionary had to release a special edition outside of their quarterly publication cycle.  Here are a few of the additions acknowledged by these outlets. 

  Have you had trouble with your skin breaking out because of constantly wearing a mask?  There's now a name for the condition...maskne.  Of course, mask and acne combined.

  The 'Rona.  Apparently, we tired of saying the whole word, so it was shortened.  It could be your go-to slang if you sneeze or repeatedly cough in front of people.  Maybe you would say something like, (sneeze, sniffle, sneeze, cough, cough) It's not the 'Rona.  

  Since school has been online, some students have started calling their at-home experience, Coronacation.

  Maskhole.  Probably no need to spell it out.  According to Urban Dictionary, It applies to the selfish idiots who refuse to wear a mask for any number of unenlightened reasons.  

  Zumping.....is a reference to getting dumped, either by a significant other or your company.....on Zoom or any social media.  

  Zoomraiding or Zoombombing.  Not happy words, but either one is what it's called when trolls or hackers invade a Zoom meeting to interject racist, obscene, or antisemitic material.  

  A covidiot is a person who could be a maskhole.  It also applies to the person who insists on hugging you or shaking hands.  

  Quarantini showed up on a lot of restaurant's new take-out menus when to-go cocktails became legal in some states.

  This one's about as callous as it can get.  Know what a Boomer Mover refers to in virus slang?

  Moronavirus is what it is called when covidiots and maskholes test positive. 

  What happens when you have a bunch of covidiots and maskholes catching the virus?  The effect is what is now called Fattening the Curve.  

  Covid Bubble is the close-knit social circle you risk exposure for in order to socialize beyond your family, although none of you really know whether or not you're being entirely safe.  

  Covid Party.  Is it real or legend?  We've all seen stories that young people throw a party after one of their friends has a positive diagnosis.  The goal?  To infect others with the full knowledge of all parties.  If this is true, Covid Parties border on insanity.    

  Merriam-Webster, OED, Reuter News, and The New York Times lists more slang words and expressions being utilized than what has been shared in this post.  We will probably hear and say them ourselves if we haven't already done so.

  A final thought about Zumping.  Which of these actions is colder and more cruel?  

1)  Being let go by a boyfriend or girlfriend on Zoom?  

                          or

2)  Being a Defense Secretary of the United States last year and being fired by your president on Twitter?  

  HUH?  What's up with that?