The linguistics of a pandemic - sort of lighthearted

[BrexpatInSwitzerland]

I've always been fascinated by language - and I'm absolutely intrigued by how the current situation is impacting our use of it.

The beginnings were relatively subtle: people started to sign off emails with "stay safe" or "stay healthy". Recently, some have graduated to "stay home".

I've also come to notice that - as always - obscenenities adapt at lightning speed. Today as I went for my weekly shop, I came across a group of youths (who, no, shouldn't have been there, but that's not the point) who were obviously embroiled in a bit of an arguments. As I pass by, one yells at the other "you fucking little viral shedder" (translating; see username, I'm not in the UK at present).

Work colleague described a situation in an ongoing project last week using the words "it's like someone coughing on a bus". Everyone instantly understood what he meant.

Does anyone else have examples?

"Post-pandemic world" got mentioned by three different candidates in job interviews this week - that wouldn't have been common in my industry before CV.

I'm guessing "fucking little viral shredder" was one long word if Swiss German - please say it was :D

In the uk, we now have Boris Walks, there's lots of lockdown food, lockdown drink posts. Lots of 'stay safe' going on. 'How are you' definitely has a different connotation.

Haven't noticed much yet, most of the creativity is still coming out in memes, but they are slowing, so I expect there will be more over the next while.

Totally agree with you, it's something that fascinates me too.

I'm guessing "fucking little viral shredder" was one long word if Swiss German - please say it was :D

I'm afraid not! I don't speak (although I do understand) Swiss German myself, so can't quite write it correctly. But the standard German equivalent (which I do speak and hence can write) would be "du verfickte kleine Virenschleuder".

If it weren't such a bleak situation, it'd be utterly hilarious!

Corona Cunt seems to be a favourite among youngsters.

Oh, and there is Boomer Doomer, obviously.

Blatantly placemarking as I love linguistic change.

Not sure if this counts but my daughter's have acquired an imaginary dog named Furlough.
They have no idea what it means but seem taken with the word.

"Stay well" and "Stay safe" are the only ones I've noticed so far.

Obviously well intentioned, but in a minor way they piss me off slightly as being a) an order and b) not necessarily achievable!

Not quite what you are after, but 'stay safe' was a popular parting saying in gay cultures in the late 80s and 90s. It seems to have been revived and it really takes me back.

I'm going to a 'zoom party' on Thursday. If you'd said that to me a few weeks ago I don't know what I would have thought!

I'm an English student with an interest in linguistics so I'm loving that a thread has been posted about this as it's something I've been thinking about a lot.

I find it incredible how in the last six weeks or so our vocabulary has changed so much. Lockdown, self-isolation, social distancing - these are all part of our everyday speech now. And terms which would have been the reserve of the experts have gone the same way - peaks, curves, being symptomatic/asymptomatic, PPE...

And it's fascinating how our modes of communication themselves have changed - making greater use of technology - and how much this will continue afterwards.

It is amazing on SM how quickly we went here from #italianonsiferma (roughly - Italy, business as usual) to #iorestoacasa (I'm staying at home).

Keyworker - not a new word but a new meaning

Towards the end of term I noticed Corona was every other word with the youth. Don't touch me with your corona or breathe on me with your Corona breath.

There's the covid cut ( shaved head)

And of course the over used word of unprecedented.

Lockdown, self-isolation, social distancing - these are all part of our everyday speech now.

This has happened extremely quickly too. None of this was common a month ago and now it’s so ingrained that it got passed over initially. I remember the language around Brexit developing really quickly because I wasn’t paying attention and suddenly everyone knew what this weird contraction meant, except me 🤣

I think zoom is the word that has changed meaning the most, and has become very widely used as noun, adjective and verb.

Covidiots is readily recognised, but doesn't seem to have really be taken up in ordinary use (too 'try hard'?)

Shield/shielding has a new shade of meaning too

Pre pandemic emails:
"I hope you are well" = I don't actually care, I'm just being polite, I know you're well due to all the passive aggressive emails I've received from you lately.

Post pandemic emails:
"I hope you are well" = Haven't had any deliverables from you for a while. Just checking you're alive or whether you've just decided to stop even pretending to logon in the hope you'll be furloughed.

😂

I've noticed some new irregular verbs:

I sensibly bought a little extra for the store cupboard
You do seem to have bought a lot of pasta
He/she is stockpiling like selfish parasite scum

Came on to say furloughed

Also, "unprecedented in modern peacetime"

Also not necessarily speech but names that were probably not mentioned much before;

Chris Whitty, Patrick Vallance,Jenny Harries.

Hand sanitiser, toilet roll, 2 metres, ventilators and viral load are used a lot more than normal.

Quarantine and quaranteenys for drinks

I'd only ever heard furlough on The West Wing before last week.

It's behaviour too - would love to see what sociologists make of it.

I'm a tactile person, previously quite happy with zero personal space. Or rather, I was. I now practically hiss if someone gets too close.

'THE sickness' when say someone says they've been ill, but it wasn't C19

C19.. doesn't mean Nineteenth Century anymore.

Yes, I was thinking this to myself a couple of weeks ago when I realised I'd probably said the word 'lockdown' more in one hour than I had in the rest of my life combined.