New English words and #COVID-19

The English we speak is always changing.

There are two things that drive the change.

One is contact with other languages and the other is major events that change our lives.

When new problems come up, we need new words to describe them.

And thatís whatís been happening with the coronavirus.

In this video youíll learn some important new English words and how to use them.

Theyíre words and phrases that you can use to describe your life and relationships in

our new world.

Every three months the Oxford English Dictionary adds new words and phrases.

But because of the coronavirus, more new words and meanings have been coined, so theyíve

done an early update.

For example, theyíve added the word COVID-19.

They call it ëan acute respiratory illness in humans caused by the coronavirusí.

Respiratory means connected with breathing and your lungs.

OK, whatís the difference between coronavirus and COVID-19?

Coronavirus is a general term so there are lots of different coronaviruses.

The common cold is a coronavirus Atchoo!

More serious viruses like MERS and SARS are coronaviruses too.

COVID-19 is the particular strain of the virus that weíre fighting today.

So COVID-19 is a more specific term.

Itís a short form of the phrase ëcoronavirus disease 2019í.

2019 was the year they identified it.

And sometimes itís called ënovel coronavirus' Novelí means new, because itís a new coronavirus!

A lot of the new meanings in the Oxford English Dictionary are about how we interact with

one another because of COVID-19.

For example, elbow bump.

So an elbow bump is a greeting when we donít want to shake hands.

But in the past, elbow bumps were like high fives, a sort of celebration.

Yay!

COVID-19 is making us rethink the way we interact.

Oh.

Do you have the figures for February?

Oh sure.

Letís see.

Oh, here it is!

I didnít want to touch that paper after youíd licked your fingers.

We have to learn new habits and with new habits come new words.

Or new meanings of old words.

Hereís one.

In the past self-isolation used to describe countries that kept themselves separate.

Historically, some countries have had an isolationist foreign policy where there was no foreign

trade and it was very hard for people from other countries to enter.

But now self-isolation means something different.

If someone has or thinks they might have the coronavirus, they self-isolate and keep themselves

apart from their family.

They have to stay physically separate and clean and disinfect any common areas.

Another word like that is self-quarantine.

Quarantine is a length of time.

When a person or animal is kept separate so that they donít infect anyone with a disease.

But these days, people are self-quarantining, so they donít infect their families.

Self-quarantining is really tough to do.

And hereís another phrase thatís changed its meaning: social distancing.

Youíll hear this a lot.

In the past, social distancing meant not wanting to engage socially with other people .

We went to a networking event last night.

Oh, what was it like?

Boring!

It was very useful.

There were about a dozen people there and everyone made a short presentation.

I didnít like it.

Did you meet any interesting people?

Yes.

Well I did.

I didnít talk to anybody.

So you kept your social distance from everyone at the event.

I didnít want to get involved.

You didnít want to talk to them!

But these days social distancing is less about feelings and attitudes and more about physical

distance.

We need to stay six feet apart.

So now we get our groceries delivered, but the delivery person is careful not to come

near us.

They leave the food on the front doorstep and go away.

Have a good day.

Thank you so much.

Youíre welcome.

Take care.

Thank you, bye.

We have lovely neighbours and we used to stand at the wall on our deck and chat to them.

But now we understand that we need to keep our distance.

Joao!

Hello!

How are you doing?

We also have some new English acronyms.

An acronym is when you take the first letters of a phrase and turn them into a word.

Do you know what this means?

It means working from home and youíll see it a lot in emails.

Itís usually written.

When weíre speaking we normally say working from home.

How are you finding working from home Jay?

Oh itís great!

I never get bored in meetings any more.

Another new acronym is PPE.

We talked about that in our last video.

It stands for personal protective equipment, but that takes a long time to say so we just

say PPE.

Doctors and nurses need PPE to protect themselves.

And weíre starting to wear PPE now too.

Good morning colleagues.

Welcome back to work after the shutdown.

Please remember to sit six feet apart.

And please remember to wear masks.

And donít forget to wear gloves.

When something big like COVID-19 happens, we have change our ways.

It makes us rethink all the things we do in our lives.

What really matters?

Whatís important in life?

Hereís an adjective thatís been rising in frequency.

If something is non-essential it means it isnít necessary

We talk about non-essential travel, non-essential workers, non-essential businessesÖ

For example, where we live in Philadelphia theyíve closed non-essential businesses.

But what is a non-essential business?

Thatís a good question because people disagree.

Non-essential businesses are often recreational, so things like theatres, museums, restaurants,

bars...

Schools have closed too, of course.

Hereís another group phrases weíre hearing a lot.

A lockdown is an official order thatís given in a dangerous situation.

It controls the movement of people or vehicles.

Prisoners in jail might be placed on lockdown if thereís violence.

A lockdown is very strict and it suggests danger.

But these days people are using lockdown when they're just talking about staying at home

when they really want to go out.

In Philadelphia, we have a ëstay at homeí order which sounds a little less strict than

a lockdown.

We can go out, but only to do essential tasks like shopping for food.

Some states in the US have another term: shelter in place.

This is interesting because ëshelter in placeí used to be connected with gun violence in

the US.

Well itís still used if thereís an active shooter with a gun.

People are told to shelter in place.

It means stay where you are and donít move.

But now with COVID-19 it can just mean ëdonít go outí.

Itís become another way of saying stay at home.

We know a lot of you are obeying the rules and staying at home too

Yeah.

Weíve loved reading your comments and hearing how youíre coping with the coronavirus in

your part of the world.

Staying at home has been our best defense and thank you for doing that.

I have a question.

Have you noticed any new words and meanings entering your language too?

Write and tell us if you have.

We want to hear about them.

And thanks to everyone who has already written and please keep the comments coming.

And donít forget to wash your hands.

And donít forget to call your grandparents.

Keep safe everyone.

Bye-bye.

Bye.