In just a matter of a few weeks, the coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally changed our lives and transformed our ways of living. It has also created a new vocabulary and an explosion of new words and phrases as we learn to cope and react to the changes enforced upon us. In some cases the words are put together by the Government to help put across their message, or help with understanding or indeed encourage compliance with new rules and guidelines.
In some instances, the words are well known existing ones that now take on a whole new meaning. In other instances, the words are quite new and unheard of to many of us. For example, most of us had never before heard of “furlough”, but just a few days later being “furloughed” became a reality for many.
These new words and phrases now pepper our everyday language and conversation.
In a typically British way, we have also introduced humour to help us cope and get through this strange and challenging time. I came across the word “Blursday”, a new name for a day of the week. If it was bad enough knowing which day it was before coronavirus, the pandemic has blurred our days even more!
David