Living through the Covid pandemic, things were happening that were nothing like we'd ever known. Social behaviour changed. We had to get on top of new scientific concepts. There were legal requirements. We even had to use computers in new ways. All these had, or acquired, their own vocabulary. So I started to collect the terms, for fun. Here it is:
Science
Government Rules
Other organisations
People
Ours!
Press briefings
Other
Covid-19 - official name of sickness. Virus is SARS-Cov2 but people call the virus Covid-19
Coronavirus - name of group of viruses of which Covid-19 is one - often used for virus
R number - reproductive rate - how many people one infected person infects (greater than one, we all start getting worried!)
Asymptomaic - no symptoms (but infected)
Viral load - amount of virus (so health workers are exposed to a large viral load, or masks reduce viral load)
PPE - (Personal Protective Equipment) needed by hospitals and care homes!
Second wave - when virus returns! (Not very well defined)
Sanitise/hand sanitiser - disinfects hands
Long Covid - symptoms lasting a long time after a week (normal length)
The three Ls - lives, liberties and livelihoods - what you have to balance
Variant - virus changing (they quickly dropped mutation!) - also variant of concern - a variant that is more contagious (or possibly lethal)
Anti-vax - violently against being vaccinated
Vaccine hesitancy - people refusing vaccine (milder form of anti-vax)
Lateral flow test - rapid, self-administered test
PCR test - (Polymerase chain reaction) - more complicated test which you had to send off to a laboratory
Lockdown - everything shut except essential businesses (food, health, delivery, etc.) Everyone stays at home
Lifting lockdown - less lockdowny
Social distancing - staying a certain distance from other people (not in your household) - usually 2 metres, can be 1 metre (your average Brit does not get within a metre of a stranger!)
Household - very important! Used for who can meet who
Furlough - Government scheme where gov pays money to people in employment who can't work (via employer)
Essential workers - health staff and care home staff, but also shop workers, delivery people, etc.
Frontline workers - people who need to work, and meet people
(Self) isolating - staying at home and avoiding any contact (except household?) - usually for contacts of infected people
Quarantine - isolating for a length of time after returning from abroad from certain countries
Shielding - staying at home and avoiding any contact because being vulnerable
Bubble - single person joining another household (and becoming part of that household for rules)
Contact tracing - tracing contacts of people who've tested positive
Test and Trace - name of Government scheme for contact tracing (often called Track and Trace by mistake - Post Office uses that term?)
Face covering - mask but not necessarily a proper one
Mingle - what you shouldn't do if more than 6 people, according to government (rule of 6)
Circuit breaker - short, fierce, rules - also fire break (doesn't seem to work!). Used in what I call second lockdown in November 2020.
Tier 1 (rule of 6), tier 2 (no mixing of households except outside), tier 3 (no mixing at all, at all - pubs closed), we even got up to tier 4 at one point (stay at home, only meet 2 outside, Christmas abolished)! Regs short of lockdown - different in different parts of the country. Although tier 4 was really lockdown. These were November 2020 and December 2020.
Cautious hugging (permitted May 17 2021
"Cover your nose!" (when wearing a mask) - Cambridge station announcement
Ping - notification by NHS app that you need to self-isolate, due to contact with Covid case
Pingdemic - too many pings due to rising cases
Plan B (December 2021) - not a lockdown, but stricter than (presumably) plan A which was never mentioned. Masks everywhere as during lockdown, work at home, vaccine passports in e.g. nightclubs.
Covid pass or Covid passport proof of vaccination
And if that all seems rather confusing, believe me, that was noticed at the time!
Blended education - mixed online and face-to-face education
Zoom - software to allow online meet-ups.
Parked - "Are you seated or parked?" (Wimpole cafe - eating in the cafe or the park).
Temporary Continuity - Dept of Education. Not quite sure what it means!
Keep left - we had to keep 2 metres apart, so on busy pavements, they would mark which direction of travel was allowed. The pavement on the other side of the road would be the opposite direction. Some of these signs are still there (2024). There were even one way aisles in supermarkets, which were very annoying. You missed something, you had to go all round the block and come back a second time. We used to write our shopping lists in aisle order, bearing in mind the directions allowed. Yes, and that meant making a map of the supermarket. We were bored, you see!
Stay safe - a sign off used in emails, etc.
Bubbling - joining the rest of your bubble for a face-to-face meet-up
In a bubble - who you choose to bubble with
WFH - working from home
Meet-ups - meeting people (online or face-to-face).
New Normal - changes from week to week
IRL - In Real Life (for meet-ups).
You're muted - on Zoom, so people can't hear you (plus "We can't see you" and "Please mute!")
Rishi meal (dinner) - "Eat out to help out" government meal deal - 50% off up to £10
Time of Covid
The Great Pause
The Pandemic - I tend to use this one now
Masks - These had to be over face and nose, not - say - the Lone Ranger
Zoom-bombing children, cats
Unprecedented - everything!
2020 - used as meaning mad!
Doom scrolling - too much social media!
Super spreader event - an event where people got too close, and lots of people caught Covid from it
"Have you had yours yet?" - the jab
LUNDIMANCHE - A French neologism for the same repetitive lockdown day. (From QI)
Cemetery cup of coffee - a local phenomnon. We have a disused cemetery close by, with trees and greenery, and benches. A pair of friends would marrange to meet (when we were allowed to) bringing our own coffee, walk round the cemetery 2 metres apart, carefully avoided other people by 2 metres, and when a bench was free, sit at each end, drink our coffe, and chat. It sounds horrible. It really wasn't! It was very nice. You've never seen the cemetery so busy. (That might have been better expressed. It was a disused cemetery!)
Zoom fatigue - too much Zoom!
Jab - vaccine
Double jabbed - both doses of the vaccine
Booster jab - and the third
"One sentence to sum up 2020, so far: At one point this week, 1 loo roll was worth more than a barrel of crude oil!" This is a little complicated to explain... Loo rolls disappeared off the shelves due to panic buying. Presumably when they came back, it was tempting to put the prices up. Or, of course, people were buying them elsewhere. Crude oil prices crashed at one point. I can't even remember why...
Since everything had changed, it was natural to invent our own terms to describe what we did, or saw.
masking up - the act of wearing a mask
viral limit - the number that are allowed in a small shop. This was because of social distancing. For a small shop, this might only be a few people, only 2 in one shop! Any more people meant you had to queue outside, and the queue had to be social distanced as well. For large shops, they might mark on the pavement where you should stand. Some of those are still there (2024).
number counting - looking into the window of a charity shop to see how many people are inside (see viral limit)
queue guard - security staff on door managing the queue and numbers entering a shop. This was only used for large shops. Obviously we coulodn't figure out how many were in the shop, so the guard would "count us all in, and count us out again". Queues were an enormous nuisance. I remember trying to get to the end of such a queue by walking down it, while seeing people coming in the opposite direction joining it, making it longer and longer, and so it would take me even more time to reach the end. And everyone standing 2 metres apart, remember. After that experience at Asda (our locel supermarket), we abandoned it, and used Sainsburys in town. That was the supermarket used by students, but there weren't any students, so it was fairly empty. Also we went as soon as it opened.
island seating - seating in middle of Rose Crescent (because of keep left)
unnose - pull the mask down so it doesn't cover the nose. Also mask-chin (pull it down further, to the chin or under it) and mask-ear (take it off one ear so it's dangling from the other). These are not necessarily mis-using the mask, just getting some relief when leaving a shop. Although some people did mis-use their masks.
The Covid Dance - avoiding people while walking for social distancing
Coronona circle - people talking, carefully distanced. This was when rule of 6 was allowed, so if you do this with 6 people, you end up in a circle.
Covid coven - small groups of people sitting outside - again, often in a circle
Jabbed up - got all of the vaccine jabs (so far). Might even have done the flu jab as well.
This is something I worked out which has a slight connection to the pandemic. Which side of the street should you walk on?
Walk on the side of the street which minimises length of route.
Except when it's sunny, when you should walk on the sunny side of the street.
Except when it's too hot, when you should walk on the shady side of the street.
Except during autumn, when you should walk on the side of the street without trees (because of slippery leaves on the pavement) which is probably the non-shady side of the street.
Except at mid-winter, where you should walk on the non-sunny side of the street to stop the sun shining right in your eyes.
Except during time of Covid, when you avoid other people, so you walk down the centre of the street!
Boris Johnson had his own colourful language:
Squashing the sombrero - reducing height of bell-shaped curve
Whackamole - dealing with local flareups of virus
Operation Moonshot - pre-emptive testing - "like pregnancy testing"
Rule of six - max 6 in a group "like rule of three"
Crocuses poking through the snow - 2021 - cases coming down
England's deputy chief medical officer, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam enjoyed using various football metaphors, such as "going from 3-0 up to 4-3 down". In November 2021 he said ""half time of extra time" in the pandemic in the UK - but the final whistle hasn't blown. But he says he expects "calmer waters" by the spring.
There had been a love of Three Word Slogans ever since the General Election of 2019, when the slogans were:
Get Brexit Done
Take Back Control
Protect our borders
Once the pandemic started, there were frequent press briefings. Often three people stood at podiumss, such as Boris Johnson, Prof Whitty and Prof Van-Tam. There would be slogans on these:
March 23 2020 (Lockdown): Stay home, Protect the NHS, Save lives
May 12 2020 (First relaxation of lockdown): Stay alert, Control the virus, Save lives
July 19 2020 (Brexit): Check, Change, Go
August 2020: Eat out to help out
September 9 2020 (after recent spike in cases to 2K plus): Wash hands (keep washing your hands regularly), Cover face (wear a face covering in enclosed spaces), Make space (stay at least a metre apart) - abreviated to Hands Face Space
September 22 2020: Save lives, protect the NHS and shelter the economy
October 12 2020: Rethink, reskill, reboot
October 31 2020 (lockdown): Stay home, Protect the NHS, Save lives (again)
December 16 (Christmas visits): Keep it short, keep it small, keep it local
April 2021 Hands, face, space, fresh air
This was an item reported 22 July 2021:
New Covid slogan as Government dumps Hands, Face, Space
The slogan will reflect the fact the laws no longer apply in England.
The Government is to drop the Hands, Face, Space slogan and replace it with a new mantra designed for lockdown lifting, according to reports.
Boris Johnson has used short slogans throughout the Covid campaign to get across key messages.
The move started with the launch of the first lockdown when the Prime Minister told everyone to: "Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives".
On May 10 last year the message switched from Stay Home to "Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Save Lives"
That was later replaced with Hands, Face, Space - reminding people to wash their hands regularly, cover their faces in public and endure social distancing.
But the rules on masks and distancing in England have been scrapped in the latest round of lockdown lifting from July 19.
The Times reports that ministers are set to urge people to "keep life moving" this summer as the "hands, face, space" slogan will be dumped.
It comes as positive cases of Covid continue to soar with 46,558 new infections recorded on Tuesday, with tens of thousands of cases seen every day this month.
The figures are the highest tallies since January when the nation was put into lockdown.
Here is a single item copied from social media 30 April 2020. I don't think any of these actually got used, but some of them describe what was going on.
'Lockdown lingo’ are you fully conversant with the new terminology?
Here are a few terms to get you in the groove:
Coronacoaster: The ups and downs of your mood during the pandemic. You’re loving lockdown one minute but suddenly weepy with anxiety the next. It truly is "an emotional coronacoaster".
Quarantinis: Experimental cocktails mixed from whatever random ingredients you have left in the house. The boozy equivalent of a store cupboard supper. Southern Comfort and Ribena quarantini with a glacé cherry garnish, anyone? These are sipped at "locktail hour", ie. wine o'clock during lockdown, which seems to be creeping earlier with each passing week.
Blue Skype thinking: A work brainstorming session which takes place over a videoconferencing app. Such meetings might also be termed a "Zoomposium". Naturally, they are to be avoided if at all possible.
Le Creuset wrist: It’s the new "avocado hand" - an aching arm after taking one’s best saucepan outside to bang during the weekly 'Clap For Carers.' It might be heavy but you’re keen to impress the neighbours with your high-quality kitchenware.
Coronials: As opposed to millennials, this refers to the future generation of babies conceived or born during coronavirus quarantine. They might also become known as "Generation C" or, more spookily, "Children of the Quarn".
Furlough Merlot: Wine consumed in an attempt to relieve the frustration of not working. Also known as "bored-eaux" or "cabernet tedium".
Coronadose: An overdose of bad news from consuming too much media during a time of crisis. Can result in a "panicdemic".
Getting on your Wicks: Vexing noise levels from neighbours doing their daily workout with Joe Wicks, the Body Coach. Star jumps and burpees sound like a stampeding herd of buffalo.
Miley/Billy Ray: Rhyming slang for coronavirus, as in popstrel Miley Cyrus (ie ‘virus’) or her country crooner father Billy Ray. Sample usage: "I’m suffering with a touch of the Mileys" or "I’m achy-breaky and displaying Billy Ray symptoms". Which one you use is a useful indicator of your age.
Claphazard: Someone so enthusiastic about saluting our care workers that they forget all social distancing guidelines, start hugging their neighbours and high-fiving passing pedestrians.
The elephant in the Zoom: The glaring issue during a videoconferencing call that nobody feels able to mention. E.g. one participant has dramatically put on weight, suddenly sprouted terrible facial hair or has a worryingly messy house visible in the background.
Doughverkill: One’s social media feed being dominated by smug photos of home-made sourdough or banana bread. If making sourdough is so great, how come you'd never done it before March?
Quentin Quarantino: An attention-seeker using their time in lockdown to make amateur films which they’re convinced are funnier and cleverer than they actually are.
Covidiot: One who ignores public health advice or behaves with reckless disregard for the safety of others can be said to display "covidiocy" or be "covidiotic". Also called a "lockclown" or even a "Wuhan-ker".
Space invader: Someone who routinely comes closer to you than the recommended two metres and who you'd like to zap like in an arcade game.
Goutbreak: The sudden fear that you’ve consumed so much wine, cheese, home-made cake and Easter chocolate in lockdown that your ankles are swelling up like a medieval king’s.
Caught between a shop and a hoard place: The dilemma of needing to purchase basics but not wanting to be accused of stockpiling. I'm not stockpiling, I usually buy this many tins of beans.
Zumping: The recent phenomenon of ending a romantic relationship via video call. Depending on the platform used for the break-up, it can also be known as "FaceTumped" or "Housepumped".
Antisocial distancing: Using health precautions as an excuse for snubbing neighbours and generally ignoring people you find irritating.
Dinfluencer: Someone so proud of their new-found cooking ability that they artfully photograph every supper to boast about it on social media.
Quaranteam: The people and/or pets you’re in lockdown with are your "quaranteam". This era’s equivalent of squadgoals.
Coughin' dodger: Someone so alarmed by an innocuous splutter or throat-clear that they back away in terror.
Tandemic: A sun-kissed glow acquired from sitting in one’s garden or (gasp!) flouting the rules on park sunbathing.
Mask-ara: Extra make-up applied to "make one's eyes pop" before venturing out in public wearing a face mask.
Doom 'n' Zoom: The feeling spread by the most miserable or pessimistic participant in a videoconference, aka the "Zoommonger" or "lockdowner".
Co-runner virus: An infection potentially spread by selfish fitness fanatics taking up an entire path by jogging two abreast.
Covid-10: The 10lbs in weight that we’re all gaining from comfort-eating and comfort-drinking. Also known as "fattening the curve".
...and finally, finally: One sentence to sum up 2020, so far: At one point this week, 1 loo roll was worth more than a barrel of crude oil!
Return to Covid index
© Jo Edkins 2024