The English language is fluid and everchanging. Ever since Shakespear started pulling words out of his “hat,” like they were pizza Pringles, our vocabularies have thickened drastically. Every time there was a need for a certain descriptor, poets, bard, and sometimes scholars came up with words that have never been used before. While most of the old words’ etymology was a mix of Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit, the modern neologisms are much easier to understand.
UrbanDictionary is a great source of these modern words. Sometimes all it takes for new definitions to appear is for millions of people to get stuck at home during a pandemic with nothing better to do than come up with funny names for things. Here you’ll find ironic neologisms and fresh idioms that appeared or acquired new meaning during the pandemic. Let’s see if you’ve heard any of them!
1. Maskhole
A person who’s not wearing a face mask properly. Most commonly under the nose, on the chin, or the back of the head.
2. Doomscrolling
Scrolling through Twitter, Facebook, and other social media and getting anxiety from all the bad stuff happening in the world.
3. Covidiot
The smartass who ignores any and all warnings regarding public health or safety during covid, such as: wearing a mask, staying at home, or washing hands properly.
4. Body mullet
Body mullet is a set of clothing exclusively for Zoom conferences. It’s usually a fancy and officious top and nothing but underwear below the waist.
5. NOVID-19
That strange phantom feeling you get when your throat starts to tickle, and you realize that you might’ve been infected after interacting too closely with a stranger without a mask.
6. Overdistancing
5 feet? Try 15 feet instead! Some people take their personal space very seriously.
7. Emotional distancing
Consciously avoiding important decisions about relationships or even discussing them.
8. Covideo
A short video made during the lockdown in which something cute, funny, and/or terrible happens. Sometimes nothing happens, and it’s just a silent cry for help.
9. Someday, Noneday, Whoseday, Whensday, Blursday, Whyday, Doesn’tmatterday
During a lockdown, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of the days of the week, and so we got these abominations.
10. Body Zoom-morphia
When it seems to you that your group chat image is so unattractive that you cannot focus on other issues.
11. Quorumtine
The minimum number of family members needed to decide what to watch on TV.
12. Pan-demic
A potentially dangerous habit of baking a lot of fresh bread at home during the quarantine.
13. COVID-30
30 is the number of pounds gained by the average adult during the quarantine.
14. Helter shelter
A certain moment during quarantine, when you realize that your house is in chaos, and you just want to yell: “Screw it all, let’s go outside. So what if a few other people die? “
