Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.
Introduction
The COVID-19 health crisis has had a severe impact on all aspects of millions of people’s lives. This is an expected outcome of such a long-lasting global problem, as governments in all parts of the world introduce measures to restrict the spread of the disease and ensure the safety of citizens. The new policies and regulations aimed at protecting the health and wellbeing of the population can cause significant changes to everyone’s lifestyle, work, and daily routine. However, of the numerous pandemics throughout human history, only the current one has had such a profound effect on the English language (Lawson). This paper will explore the most notable neologisms related to the coronavirus and attempt to discern the factors that differentiate the current situation from similar events in the past.
The neologisms
The changes introduced by the pandemic can be observed in almost every aspect of life, and the language utilized by internet users is an excellent indication of that. Even with the lockdown giving some people more free time than they can spend, the habit of creating short words and colloquial expressions that denote widely known notions does not cease to exist. With so many innovative units of language connected with the current situation, the influx of new vocabulary was unavoidable. This phenomenon has inspired a number of journalists to produce articles that will be used as sources for creating this section of the paper.
The first group of words that will be discussed in this article is related to the name of the diseases – coronavirus. A popular online dictionary states that “the rona is an informal shortening of coronavirus,” and some people even refer to it as “Miss Rona or Aunt Rona” (“New Words We Created Because Of Coronavirus”). This relatively humorous and lighthearted approach to facing an extremely severe crisis is a fascinating example of the inventive ways humans cope with fear, stress, and anxiety, caused by such existential threats. This widespread variant of the word is undoubtedly interesting; however, it is not the most peculiar. The creative users of Cockney rhyming slang have conceived an even more curious description – they call it “Miley Cyrus” (Lawson). The creativity of some dialect speakers never fails to amaze, and this is no exception.
Covidiot is one of the more popular derogatory terms that emerged when the virus menace was spreading quickly. It is a blend of the words COVID and idiot referring to a person who does not act safely and responsibly during the pandemic (“New Words We Created Because Of Coronavirus”). It can be applied to someone who blatantly violates public health guidelines, such as maintaining social distancing, wearing a protective mask, or washing hands for 30 seconds. The notion also expands to those who worsen the situation in less obvious ways, such as buying extreme amounts of toilet paper and other hygiene products, thus causing a shortage for other people (“Covidiot”). “Moronavirus” has a similar meaning, but can also be used to describe the chain reaction effect that such irrational behavior has on people (“Moronavirus”). These terms might have more merit than any other insults, as they play an essential role in society. By confronting people whose behavior endangers others and puts an unnecessary load on the already strained economy, these words encorage them, and others, to act appropriately, even though they might not understand why they should.
Transitioning to a mainly online workflow and distanced learning has made some of the internets’ inherent issues more apparent, which resulted in another batch of new words. One of them is used to describe an act of joining a virtual meeting with the aim to disrupt it – zoombombing (“New Words We Created Because Of Coronavirus”). The word is a development of the comparatively old concept of photobombing with a broader meaning. It is important to note that neither of these words denoted any malicious intent. A typical zoombombing is usually a group of teenagers trying to entertain themselves in this exceptionally monotone time. Its consequences rarely go beyond a few minutes of wasted time, and most video conferencing software makes it easy to prevent or stop it.
An event of such magnitude that produced such an extensive number of neologisms would certainly leave a permanent trace in the English language. Looking at the most significant wars of recent history, one can see that there is a number of words that came from them, for instance, radar (Lawson). The term coronial has a sizeable chance of outlasting the pandemic, as it is used to describe a child born during this era (“New Words We Created Because Of Coronavirus”). If the current crisis continues for a sufficiently long time, millions of people will bear this name. The clever use of the word millennial and the historical connotation of this term would likely keep it popular in the coming decades. Its synonyms – quaranteen and coronababy, might see less use, but would probably still be spoken by some people.
What makes this pandemic special
The scale of the COVID-19 pandemic should not be underestimated; however, it is not the largest health crisis in human history. Despite that, it produced far more neologisms than any other disease. Wars, on the other hand, have had a similar effect on vocabulary, inspiring people to invent new words to describe their experiences. There is no definitive answer as to why that might be the case, but this section will attempt to provide a plausible and logical explanation.
Creating new words is something many people consider an enjoyable creative experience; young children and teenagers do it regularly, and even adults engage in this pastime on some occasions. A study has indicated that “learning new words activates reward and motivational circuitries like in gambling activities” (Ripollés et al.). This could explain why slang spreads so quickly, but it does not answer the main question. One could assume that inventing a new word would cause a similar sensation, but that does not provide a reason why other pandemics did not inspire such creativity.
A more realistic explanation for the aforementioned discrepancy is in the nature of the event and its impact on most people’s daily life. The coronavirus pandemic introduced drastic changes, and so did wars. The other health crises, however, did not have such a powerful reaction from the world because there was no feasible way for the majority of people to stay at home without sacrificing their work or education. The modern technologies have enabled many to change their lifestyle completely, thus creating the need for new vocabulary to talk about it. This might not be the sole reason for the COVID-19 linguistic phenomenon, but it is one of the most prominent factors that differentiate it from other diseases.
Works Cited
“Covidiot.” Urban Dictionary, 2020, Web.
Lawson, Robert. “Coronavirus Has Led to an Explosion of New Words and Phrases – and That Helps Us Cope.” The Conversation, Apr. 2020, Web.
“Moronavirus.” Urban Dictionary, 2020, Web.
“New Words We Created Because Of Coronavirus.” Dictionary.Com, 2020. Web.
Ripollés, Pablo, et al. “The Role of Reward in Word Learning and Its Implications for Language Acquisition.” Current Biology, vol. 24, no. 21, Cell Press, Nov. 2014, pp. 2606–11.
Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.