[Ads-l] COVID-19 neologisms

Mark Mandel markamandel at GMAIL.COM
Mon May 11 17:52:29 UTC 2020


edited from Mental Floss | Words

Not all of these are new to me. Go to the article for full descriptions.

11 New Words and Phrases Inspired by the Coronavirus
<https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/623726/new-words-inspired-coronavirus>
BY Erin McCarthy
April 29, 2020

If you’re struggling to describe the new coronavirus era we’re living in,
well, you’re not alone. In fact, many new words and phrases have been
coined to help us talk about these unprecedented times (itself a phrase
that has seen a huge spike in usage). The language experts at Babbel sent
us a few of the new coronavirus-inspired words that humanity is adding to
its covidictionary.

1. Coronaspeck: weight you gain due to overeating when you’re emotional

2. Dracula Cough and Sneeze: Make like Dracula raising his cape to cover
his face and sneeze in your elbow.

3. Covidiota (Spanish) anyone who isn’t following lockdown rules. = English
covidiot.

4. Zumped: breaking up with someone over video chat *[< Zoom + dump]*

5. On-nomi (Japanese): enjoy happy hour via video chat. Literally, “drink
online.”

6. Quarantini: what you’re drinking while you’re sitting at home. A martini
of vodka and gin mixed with Emergen-C vitamin powder, to calm your nerves
and boost your immune system at the same time.

7. Zoom Bombing: the unwanted presence of a person on a video chat

8. Spendemic (coined by The New York Post): the increase in online shopping
during the pandemic

9. Coronials: babies who will be born after lockdown

10. Quaranbaking : the therapeutic act of baking during lockdown

11. Hamsterkauf: buying in huge amounts for hoarding. (The German words
Hamster (hamster) and Kauf (buying) are joined metaphorically, to compare
supermarket raiders to hamsters, who stock up food for an entire winter by
stuffing their cheeks full of it,
https://www.thelocal.de/20200228/german-word-of-the-day-der-hamsterkauf)

MAM

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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