Since I put myself in voluntary isolation on 14th March, I have been quietly observing the unfolding paradigm shift. And yes, that’s what I believe is happening right now.
I’m not here to judge other people’s behaviour. My contribution is specifically about language – something I have been delving deeper into during the past year.
It has been fascinating to observe just how quickly a new vocabulary can emerge. Just a few weeks ago few of us were using language such as self-isolating or social distancing. And now everyone is posting about flattening the curve, behavioural fatigue, and the very latest addition to the vernacular of pandemics – the iso-cation (mandatory stay-cation).
How quickly we adapt to changing circumstances and create our new reality with words and concepts.
Yes, language can evolve rapidly but the danger of new words is that not everybody will understand their meaning. That was demonstrated quite clearly with people flocking to parks and beaches to enjoy the spring sunshine the weekend before lockdown.
I can’t imagine that everybody was wilfully ignoring government advice about social distancing. It is still a concept for many people – it’s not part of their vocabulary, and therefore their reality. It brings to mind the NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) presupposition: the meaning of the communication is the response you get.
The concept of physical distancing has a more relatable meaning.
In his excellent opinion piece in the Independent, venerable war correspondent Robert Fisk wrote: “In any ordinary world, we would never have contemplated such a nonsensical phrase as ‘social distancing’, when what we actually mean is ‘keeping a physical distance from others’. How did the happy-clappy ‘social’ ever get involved in this?”
The graphic below that I found on Twitter says it very clearly. It’s more important than ever right now to be precise about language and leave no room for misinterpretation.*
Our learned prime minister did not fare very well on this score. He did not communicate with clarity. Go out and exercise! But stay at home!
At a press conference in March, Boris Johnson said: “The key message is that people follow the advice sedulously.”
Do you know what sedulously means? I had to look it up. It means ‘with careful perseverance’.
This is not the time to use language that is understood only by the few. This is the time to make the complex plain and deliver simple key messages.
The brilliant Guardian columnist Marina Hyde had it spot-on when she wrote: “The government’s inability to clearly define essential terms means we are in a situation where ‘self-isolating’ demonstrably means a range of things to different people. Same with ‘social distancing’. These urgently need simple and precise definition.”
Boris also fell into another trap – using metaphors, mostly mixed, to keep the communication vague. Here are just a few examples from his press conferences:
Turning the tide
Send it packing
Downward slope
Get on top of it
Push down further
Metaphors are powerful if used thoughtfully to evoke meaning. Piling them up in this way obscures meaning.
Tone was also a problem. As Guardian leader writer Sonia Sodha wrote, talking about sending the coronavirus packing “is more fitting of an Enid Blyton novel”.
His go-to metaphor in the first week of lockdown was ‘putting our arms around’ – no doubt in an attempt to reassure and comfort a jittery British public but not an ideal choice in the era of social distancing.
We don’t all have a thesaurus to hand and we can’t follow advice delivered in the form of mixed metaphors. Just give it to us straight.
We can, however, all take personal responsibility for being clear about our communication and saying precisely what we mean.
At the start of this blog I mentioned a paradigm shift. To be clear, what I mean by that is a fundamental change in our way of life – one that is not temporary but permanent. That’s a massive concept so I’ll leave that one for another day.
In the meantime, here’s my evolving dictionary of coronavirus-related terms, which are shaping our current reality. Some of these words have already been included in the Merriam-Webster dictionary and I’d imagine that the Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year is likely to be either self-isolating or social distancing.
Behavioural fatigue
The idea that putting certain public health measures in place needs to be timed correctly because people will become lax after a while.
Caremongering
Helping out vulnerable people in your local community.
Cocooning
Saying at home, mostly under the duvet.
Community spread
When you don’t know who is the source of an outbreak.
Contact clustering
The formal term for a social bubble of up to 10 people who agree to form an exclusive pod. Everyone in the pod would agree to minimise contact with outsiders in return for being able to relax and socialise within the pod. Also known as quarantine buddies.
Contact tracing
Tracing back the source of an infection.
Contactless delivery
Taking delivery of food and other items while avoiding contact with people or surfaces.
Coronapocalypse/coronageddon
Used to describe worst-case scenarios regarding the spread of the virus and the resulting death toll.
Corona babies (coronials)
Children conceived during lockdown, in anticipation of a spike in the birth rate around Christmas time.
Coronacoaster
The experience of having mood swings during the pandemic. You’re loving lockdown one minute but suddenly weepy or anxious the next. It truly is “an emotional coronacoaster”. (This is my pick from a list that has been doing the rounds of social media, which also included coronadose – an overdose of bad pandemic news, and coronials – otherwise known as corona babies.)
Couple spreading
Two people (usually friends or lovers) who insist on walking together on the pavement (sometimes carrying a bag between them), forcing others to step into the road to socially distance themselves.
Covidiot
A person who stubbornly ignores the social distancing protocol or hoards food supplies. According to the Daily Telegraph, online slang gatherer Urban Dictionary defines the term as “someone who ignores the warnings regarding public health and safety [relating to Covid-19].”
Covidivorce
Marriage breakdown due to having to stay at home with your spouse all day, every day.
Doortrait
A new form of photography created by photographer Jim Barker to capture images of people in their doorways during lockdown (at a safe distance).
Drone shaming
The police using drones to capture footage of people walking in beauty spots (e.g. the Peak District), therefore not sticking to the rules of the lockdown, and then shaming them for it on social media.
Dry covid
The suggestion that it’s a good idea to abstain from alcohol for the duration of the lockdown.
Flattening the curve
Mitigating the impact on the NHS of the spread of the virus by putting public health protocols into place before we hit peak infection (based on epidemic modelling).
Furlough
This is a US military term meaning ‘leave of absence‘ that has now been imported into British English to describe the specific pandemic situation of being on approved absence from work, with your job still there for you to come back to. (Thanks to Tony Mitchell for this one.)
Herd immunity
The unproven hypothesis (largely designed to protect the economy) that, if you allow the virus to spread among people who are at low risk, a large part of the population becomes immune.
Infodemic
A massive outbreak of false information about the coronavirus, as identified by the World Health Organisation (“We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of WHO. With thanks to David Norton at the Telegraph for alerting me to the use of infodemic in this context.)
Isocation
An enforced ‘vacation’ in your own home, on your own (or with your family group).
Isolationship
Defined by urbandictionary.com as: “The deep sense of connection to self and/or house mates developed after long periods of social distancing.” Also: a virtual relationship with a recent or long-term partner who can’t be physically present.
Lockdown
Government-imposed restrictions on movement and social contact, usually but not always in cities (i.e. sometimes whole countries).
Locktail
A lockdown cocktail consumed during virtual happy hour (see below).
Micro-socialising
Having a party with one or two other people in your family group or household.
Quaranteen
A young person aged between 13 and 19 in the age of coronavirus, usually suffering from intense cabin fever.
Quarantine bae
Someone you date virtually and begin falling in love with while in self-isolation. Or someone you have previously dated or split up with that you decide to quarantine with for the duration of the lockdown. (Apparently Ariana Grande has one – a real estate guy she met just before the pandemic.)
Quarantine smash
A film or series, usually streamed, that has had huge viewing figures during the lockdown (e.g. crazy Netflix documentary Tiger King).
Quarantini
A type of martini (or locktail) that you drink on your own while self-isolating (see below).
Pandemic nice guys
According to the New York Times, this is “a term being thrown around by high-strung types who suddenly find themselves engaging in shocking niceties, like waving out their car windows at pedestrians and thanking garbage collectors and police officers”.
Self-isolating/self-quarantining
According to an American doctor, self-isolating is when you are healthy but have chosen to isolate yourself for the good of your household and the wider community; and self-quarantining is when you remove yourself from any human contact because you have symptoms of the virus.
Sheltering in place
The American version of self-isolating/self-quarantining.
Social distancing
Making sure you are at least 2 metres away from people (other than your family or household group) when you are outside your home.
Super-spreader
An individual who is asymptomatic and therefore spreading the disease to many people without realising it.
Virtual happy hour
People who get together online to have a locktail and a chat.
Virus rebels
People who are deliberately flouting the government’s public health advice.
WFH
Working from home.
Zomo
The lockdown form of social anxiety, prompted when you wake up to screengrabs on other people’s Instagram Stories of a Zoom quiz/locktail hour you weren’t invited to. A play on Fomo (fear of missing out), but doesn’t work as well as it’s not an acronym.
Zoom burnout
A state of mental and sometimes physical and emotional exhaustion experienced when you have been on Zoom for work all day and social interactions at night.
And finally, the mandatory new sign-offs:
Stay safe.
Stay healthy.
*In the interests of correctness, ‘Practice social distancing’ should be ‘Practise social distancing’ in UK English. A reader tells me that ‘practice’ is used in all contexts in US English.
This Guardian opinion piece echoes much of what I’ve said above.
Brilliant piece, Bev! To your glossary of terms perhaps you should also add: “furlough”. This is a mostly US military term meaning “leave of absence” that has now been imported into British English to describe the specific pandemic situation of being on approved absence from work, with your job still there for you to come back to.
Beautiful reflective look at the language morphs in UK.
Yesterday New York Gov. Cuomo stated the train of covid-19 was once “a freight train but now has become a bullet train for the rest of America.”
Fabulous piece Bev. Caremongering is a great addition! Hope you’re keeping well.
Such a thoughtful piece, Sweetie! The one I identify with the most is both meanings of isolationship (having to fall back to developing a virtual relationship with my husband (painful) and being able to develop a deep sense of connection with my flatmate (rewarding).