TORONTO -- You walk down the sidewalk and coronadodge some covidiots and moronas standing too close together before you complete your Corona-Waltz home for virtual locktail hour when you can enjoy a quarantini with some friends from your dedicated Zoom-room.
While that may have sounded nonsensical to some, the new words in that sentence are just some of the inventive phrases emerging out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This so-called 鈥渃oronaspeak鈥 is being used by ordinary people to describe something that is happening to them which has never happened to them before.
That鈥檚 according to Tony Thorne, a linguist consultant at King鈥檚 College in London, England, who has been meticulously collecting and cataloguing the neologisms that have appeared since the novel coronavirus became known.
鈥淚n any big social upheaval, there鈥檚 always a lot of new vocabulary, new words that are generated,鈥 he told CTVNews.ca during a telephone interview from London on Thursday. 鈥淎nd this is the biggest social upheaval we鈥檝e seen, I think, in most people鈥檚 lifetime.鈥
Because of this sudden disruption in daily life, Thorne said people around the world are adopting official medical terminology espoused by health and government officials as well as creating their own, entirely new language.
鈥淪ome of it is quite funny. Some of it is slang, people trying to probably cheer themselves up and raise their morale,鈥 he explained.
Thorne said he鈥檚 been able to record more than 1,000 words for his pandemic lexicon or dictionary since the health crisis began by scouring social media, the news, and to send him what they find.
While many of the words are brand new, Thorne said some of the terms he included because they鈥檝e been revived and they鈥檙e back in popular usage. He provided examples such as, 鈥渦nprecedented,鈥 鈥渉unkering down,鈥 鈥渃abin fever,鈥 鈥渟tir crazy,鈥 鈥渦ncertain times,鈥 鈥渢he new normal,鈥 and 鈥渂ounce back,鈥 as phrases that are experiencing a resurgence during the pandemic.
The linguist also said he鈥檚 included medical and government terminology in his catalogue because a lot of it was unfamiliar a few months ago and has now become part of everyday speak.
鈥淭here's the official language which the government or medical authorities use and we have to learn and understand it to know what it means and sometimes we have to use it ourselves,鈥 he said.
Thorne said that terminology includes such words as 鈥減ersonal protective equipment (PPE),鈥 鈥渧entilation,鈥 鈥渋ntubation,鈥 鈥渁ntigen,鈥 鈥減athogen,鈥 鈥渓ockdown,鈥 and 鈥渜uarantine.鈥
As for what he plans to do with all of the words he鈥檚 collected during the pandemic, Thorne said he鈥檚 going to publish them on a King鈥檚 College website for the public to view.
鈥淪o the people have got a kind of locked-down lexicon or COVID dictionary,鈥 he said with a laugh.
EXAMPLES OF 鈥楥ORONASPEAK鈥
Armchair virologist 鈥 Someone who doesn鈥檛 know anything, but is posing as an expert.
Coronacation 鈥 Cessation of study or work due to the pandemic, viewed as a holiday.
Corona-cuts 鈥 A hairstyle during the pandemic.
Coronadodge 鈥 Physically avoiding others out in public so as not to contract the virus.
Coronalusional 鈥 Suffering from disordered thinking as a result of or during the COVID-19 crisis.
Coronasplaining 鈥 Similar to 鈥淢ansplaining,鈥 when someone who doesn鈥檛 know very much about a topic lectures others.
Corona-Waltz 鈥 Manoeuvring around other people in public, like a dance, to avoid be close to them.
Covidiot 鈥 A person behaving irresponsibly in conditions of containment.
The COVID 19 or COVID 15 (pounds) 鈥 Extra body weight accrued during quarantine.
Drivecation 鈥 A holiday, typically in a motorhome or RV, in one鈥檚 own driveway. Thorne said he suspects this one may have originated in Canada.
Hamsterkaufing 鈥 Stockpiling and/or hoarding (adapted from German).
Isobar 鈥 An at-home isolation bar.
Locktail hour 鈥 Cocktail hour in lockdown.
Morona 鈥 A person behaving stupidly because of or during the coronavirus outbreak.
Quarantini 鈥 A martini mixed in quarantine.
Zoom-bombing 鈥 When people hijack or interrupt a video conference.
Zoom-room 鈥 The one corner of the home that is kept clean for video conferences.
Zumped 鈥 When someone dumps another person in a Zoom video call.
