Three Words to Describe COVID-19
2020-11-29
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1In today's Words and Their Stories, we will talk about words from the health crisis that affects all of us this year.
2Wendalyn Nichols is with Cambridge Dictionary.
3She said, "the words that people search for reveal not just what is happening in the world, but what matters most to them in relation to those events."
4The events of this year have sent people to search for words like "coronavirus" and "COVID-19."
5It also brought words that we rarely used in the recent past, such as "quarantine," "lockdown," and "pandemic."
6So what did Cambridge Dictionary choose as the 2020 word of the year?
7The answer is "quarantine."
8Cambridge said searches for the word increased in March when many countries went into lockdown to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
9The word has also taken on a new meaning and Cambridge has since added to its definition.
10It now says quarantine is "a general period of time in which people are not allowed to leave their homes or travel freely, so that they do not catch or spread a disease."
11Collins Dictionary, another British publisher, chose "lockdown" for its word of the year.
12It said the word represents a uniting experience for people across the world.
13The publisher noted that "lockdown" was originally a word connected to prison life.
14When prisoners riot or cause other trouble, guards will lock them inside their cells to help return order to the prison.
15In 2020, Collins said under lockdown, "normal public life is suspended" and "we see few people, and fewer places."
16The meaning of the word has changed in people's mind: "Lockdown is now a public health measure."
17On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus crisis a "pandemic."
18At a news conference that day, the World Health Organization's director-general said, "Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly."
19The Merriam-Webster Learners' Dictionary says "pandemic" is an event in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world.
20Both Oxford and Collins said "pandemic" received consideration as their word of the year.
21The Oxford Dictionary, however, did not select "pandemic" or any single word as its "word of the year."
22Oxford Dictionary officials said 2020 is not a year that could be described in a single word.
23So it decided to look at words as they changed throughout the year in a "Words of an Unprecedented Year" report.
24It was "bushfire" in January when more than 200 fires were burning across Australia.
25In February, everyone was talking about the "impeachment" of U.S. President Donald Trump.
26The month of March brought "coronavirus" followed by "COVID-19."
27Then came "lockdown, social distancing, reopening, hand sanitizer, coverings, and super-spreader."
28And June was the month for "Black Lives Matter," after American police killed Black citizen George Floyd in late May.
29"Mail-in" saw increased usage in August as Americans looked for ways to vote safely during the pandemic.
30In 2019, Merriam-Webster chose "they" as its word of the year.
31The word "they" has no gender and can be used in place of "he" or "she."
32The American dictionary publisher have yet to choose its word of the year for 2020.
33However, the online betting website Sportsbook Review says the word "COVID-19" is the heavy favorite to become Webster's word of the year.
34And that's Words and Their Stories.
35Until next time, I'm Gregory Stachel.
1In today's Words and Their Stories, we will talk about words from the health crisis that affects all of us this year. 2Wendalyn Nichols is with Cambridge Dictionary. She said, "the words that people search for reveal not just what is happening in the world, but what matters most to them in relation to those events." 3The events of this year have sent people to search for words like "coronavirus" and "COVID-19." It also brought words that we rarely used in the recent past, such as "quarantine," "lockdown," and "pandemic." 4So what did Cambridge Dictionary choose as the 2020 word of the year? The answer is "quarantine." 5Quarantine 6Cambridge said searches for the word increased in March when many countries went into lockdown to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. 7The word has also taken on a new meaning and Cambridge has since added to its definition. It now says quarantine is "a general period of time in which people are not allowed to leave their homes or travel freely, so that they do not catch or spread a disease." 8Lockdown 9Collins Dictionary, another British publisher, chose "lockdown" for its word of the year. It said the word represents a uniting experience for people across the world. 10The publisher noted that "lockdown" was originally a word connected to prison life. When prisoners riot or cause other trouble, guards will lock them inside their cells to help return order to the prison. 11In 2020, Collins said under lockdown, "normal public life is suspended" and "we see few people, and fewer places." 12The meaning of the word has changed in people's mind: "Lockdown is now a public health measure." 13Pandemic 14On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus crisis a "pandemic." At a news conference that day, the World Health Organization's director-general said, "Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly." 15The Merriam-Webster Learners' Dictionary says "pandemic" is an event in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world. 16Both Oxford and Collins said "pandemic" received consideration as their word of the year. The Oxford Dictionary, however, did not select "pandemic" or any single word as its "word of the year." 17An Unprecedented Year 18Oxford Dictionary officials said 2020 is not a year that could be described in a single word. So it decided to look at words as they changed throughout the year in a "Words of an Unprecedented Year" report. 19It was "bushfire" in January when more than 200 fires were burning across Australia. 20In February, everyone was talking about the "impeachment" of U.S. President Donald Trump. 21The month of March brought "coronavirus" followed by "COVID-19." Then came "lockdown, social distancing, reopening, hand sanitizer, coverings, and super-spreader." 22And June was the month for "Black Lives Matter," after American police killed Black citizen George Floyd in late May. 23"Mail-in" saw increased usage in August as Americans looked for ways to vote safely during the pandemic. 24What about Merriam Webster? 25In 2019, Merriam-Webster chose "they" as its word of the year. The word "they" has no gender and can be used in place of "he" or "she." 26The American dictionary publisher have yet to choose its word of the year for 2020. 27However, the online betting website Sportsbook Review says the word "COVID-19" is the heavy favorite to become Webster's word of the year. 28And that's Words and Their Stories. Until next time, I'm Gregory Stachel. 29Gregory Stachel wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 30____________________________________________________________________ 31Words in This Story 32reveal - v. to make (something) known 33allow - v. to permit 34sanitizer - n. a chemical substance designed to kill germs 35super-spreader - adj. of an event. a gathering of people that results in many infections (of a person: someone who infects a higher-than normal number of others with a disease) 36Is there a new word that you have been using this year? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.