plandemic

My poker face must have slipped, because she said, “You can look it up. It’s called ‘plandemic’ because it was all planned – like 9/11.” […] The “plandemic” theory is not limited to this one person. It was probably behind a piece of graffiti I saw later that said something about a COVID patent from 2006.

2020 April 12, Greg Keisch, “The View From Here: Looking for the ‘plan’ behind COVID”, in Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel:

But before all that, we cannot deny that there are things that still are up in the air as to their veracity. Like whether the virus is man-made or is something natural, whether it came from China or wherever, whether lockdown, ecq, gcq are the right thing to do, whether we have a real pandemic or a ‘plandemic,’ etc.

2020 May 6, Roy Cimagala, “Chill it out, take it slow”, in BusinessWeek Mindanao, volume 10, number 135, page 4:

People believe in a “#Plandemic” because it fits into existing convictions. A lot of people already believe — not without reason — that pharmaceutical companies cash in on suffering. Many people have heard that government labs do research on biological weapons. All true. […] All of these mind-sets are potential vectors for the viral #plandemic.

2020 May 8, David Von Drehle, “Why people believe in a ‘plandemic’”, in The Washington Post:

She observed that people working in the field of bodily care seemed particularly drawn to anti-vax, anti-mask, “plandemic” beliefs.

2023 November 15, Katherine Rowland, “Naomi Klein on wellness culture: ‘We really are alive on the knife’s edge’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(informal, neologism) A deliberately planned pandemic, typically supposed as part of a conspiracy theory.

At the end of the day, though, it all comes down to implementation and execution. Yet currently we are experiencing a “plandemic”—a proliferation of plans. Unless and until the focus shifts to competent execution, the nation’s preparedness posture will not be solidly grounded.

2006, Frank J. Cilluffo, “Biodefense and Pandemic Influenza”, in Hearing Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations. Special Hearing: May 23, 2006—Washington, DC (United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, Second Session), Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, pages 22–23:

Does it justify the "plandemic" of plans that have consumed our society over the last year? Everyone now seems to have a pandemic plan – governments, businesses, schools, churches, universities. There are more pandemic plans in the world than there are human cases of bird flu.

2006 July 11, Peter Curson, “Beware the pandemic of hysteria”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:

In hospital, ventilators were bought, stocks were piled and thousand of man-hours were spent sitting on committees and drafting doomsday plans. Result? No pandemic but a national plandemic.

2010 April, “Lemmingaid: they say it's painless”, in JICS, volume 11, number 2, →DOI:

(informal, neologism) A proliferation or overabundance of plans, especially plans for a pandemic.


maskne

But don’t dismiss maskne — acne and irritation from wearing a mask — as just another portmanteau to market skin-care products.

2020 June 17, Courtney Rubin, “Maskne Is the New Acne, and Here’s What Is Causing It”, in New York Times:

These bacteria can fuel skin irritations and infections, now known as maskne in the popular press[…]

2020, P. Bradford Smith et al., “A scoping review of surgical masks and N95 filtering facepiece respirators: Learning from the past to guide the future of dentistry”, in Safety Science, volume 131, →DOI:

Mask plays an inevitable role and became a part of our daily life in this pandemic era. The term "maskne" has become increasingly popular during the pandemic, particularly in the media, where it is used to describe several facial dermatoses.

2021 June 17, Kartikeya Kohli, “Management of ‘Maskne’ & Other Mask Related Facial Dermatoses”, in Medical Dialogue:

(neologism, informal) Acne induced by wearing a mask.


China virus

en-noun

China virus (countable and uncountable, plural China viruses)

Donald Trump
Republican Party (US)
en:China virus

From China + virus, from its presumed origin in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.

中国病毒 (Zhōngguó bìngdú) (explanatory translation)

@RudyGiuliani […] has tested positive for the China Virus.

(colloquial, sometimes offensive, neologism) Synonym of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.


faitheism

(slang, neologism) Atheism, with a belief that faith should not be criticized.

(slang, neologism, derogatory) Atheism that derives from faith.


mythinformation

(neologism) False information, when seen as having its own mythology or being believed in like a myth would be.


Joy plot

Blend of Joy Division + plot, from a plot that was made famous by the band Joy Division, who used the plotting of a signal from pulsar CP1919 as the cover image for their 1979 album Unknown Pleasures.

Joy plot depicting the fuzzification before normalization to 1 obtained by assigning one fuzzy set to each severity category.

2018, Davide Ciucci, Gabriella Pasi, Barbara Vantaggi, Scalable Uncertainty Management: 12th International Conference, SUM 2018, Milan, Italy, October 3-5, 2018, Proceedings, Springer, →ISBN, page 70:

(neologism) A plot of a repetitive signal, by repeatedly plotting each period on a separate line one under another, to create a pseudo-3D image that appears like a mountainous ridge.


incelosphere

Almost 1,000 references to dehumanising misogyny or violent action are recorded each day in the “incelosphere” as the toxicity of male supremacist content continues to intensify.

2022 October 30, Mark Townsend, “Experts fear rising global ‘incel’ culture could provoke terrorism”, in The Guardian, retrieved 2023-12-03:

2023 June, Lewys Brace, Stephane J. Baele, Debbie Ging, “Where do ‘mixed, unclear, and unstable’ ideologies come from? A data-driven answer centred on the incelosphere”, in Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism:

(Internet, neologism) The online communities where incels communicate.


rat-licker

From the urban myth that people in the Middle Ages licked rats to ward off the bubonic plague.

> I'm the kind of person who prefers to stay indoors.
good to know you ain't no rat-licker: [link to the Urban Dictionary entry of “rat-licker”]

2020 August 17, Nikolai Kingsley, “Re: Find the edge of the 5km quarantine limit and stand on it”, in talk.bizarre (Usenet):

I think the solution to your dilemma is obvious. You need to go swap some hot, dank, virus-heavy air with an overly clingy group of rat lickers.

2020 December 25, “The Luv Doc: An Established Tradition: It's really hard to stab someone to death with an icicle”, in The Austin Chronicle:

Less open-minded critics branded it a “rat licker rally” warning others to beware of the “tin foil hat brigade”. Meanwhile, the protesters themselves disputed whether they were demonstrating against the vaccine passport or the vaccine itself.

2021 July 25, “Time to jab anti-vaxxers mass rallies”, in Sunday Mirror, London, page 12:

(derogatory, neologism) A person who refuses to take preventative measures during a disease outbreak (especially the COVID-19 pandemic).


Nopeville

That messy project you gave me can take a bus ticket to Nopeville.

"Is this some fictional story you just now created? Because both you and it can hop on a train to Nopeville,” Charlie replied.

2017, Lenelle Lewis, Demons vs Angels, Page Publishing Inc, →ISBN:

[…] black dress with one strap and an uneven hemline that wouldn't even cover my butt—which was likely the point—but that dress was a short train to Nopeville for me. I shook my head.

2017, Aimee Gilchrist, Mele Kalikimaka Murder: A Charlotte Conner Aloha Lagoon Mystery, Gemma Halliday Publishing, →ISBN:

Nope, nope, nope. I was going to board the first train to Nopeville. I was terrified and Nick was insane, but I wasn't going out that easily.

2018, Erin McCarthy, Silence of the Ghost, Erin McCarthy, →ISBN:

Go and become acquainted with your bonded.” The tone of her voice brokered no argument as she dismissed me from the clearing. Yeah, right. The only thing I was going to become acquainted with was a one-way bus ticket to Nopeville.

2019, Brian Paone, Rayona Lovely Wilson, KM Reynolds, Jason Pere, Laurie Gardiner, Ausin P Sheehan, Mika Spruill, R Roy Lutz, Kyle Lechner, Bethany Hoeflich, Maria Delaney, William Thatch, Sunanda J Chatterjee, DW Vogel, Phil Hore, John Peagh, Lisa Dranzik, Douglas Esper, Rm Deemester, Carolyn Young, Lilith Sinclair, Travis West, Sarah Kaminski, Sheena Robin Harris, Carl D Jenkins, Dawn Taylor, Zachary J Ivens, Donise Sheppard, David Lee Crites, A Bond of Words: 29 Short Stories, Scout Media, →ISBN, page 119:

(slang, neologism, humorous) A fictitious location mentioned to express disapproval.


doomerism

As a writer, she often balances rigorous thinking with a sense of wonder: being a scientist, she wrote in an essay challenging the climate doomerism of novelist Jonathan Franzen, “means I believe in miracles. I live on one. We are improbable life on a perfect planet.”

2020 September 22, Jeff Goodell, quoting Kate Marvel, “A Conversation With Climate Scientist Kate Marvel”, in The Rolling Stone:

Also, the slow uptake is not all that surprising — numerous studies on climate communication suggest that ‘doomerism’ is not an effective way to mobilize people. And, that is exactly what we see, both in the fictional world on the verge of collapse, and in our own.

2021 December 28, Priya Shukla, “How This Climate Scientist Felt After Watching ‘Don’t Look Up’”, in Forbes:

A question from, probably mispronouncing it, Gemma. And she writes, "I have found it hard to avoid doomerism. How do I avoid losing all hope?"

2022 July 21, Bernie Sanders, “We can't give in to doomerism.”, in YouTube:

(neologism) Despair and apathy caused by disbelief in the possibility of change; the mindset of doomers.


vagueblog

en-verb

vagueblog (third-person singular simple present vagueblogs, present participle vagueblogging, simple past and past participle vagueblogged)

vagueblogs (present singular third-person)
vagueblogging (participle present)
vagueblogged (participle past)
vagueblogged (past)

"A lot of people have called us out. Subtweeting, vagueblogging, saying that The CW is instituting a program that is esoteric, abstruse, and worse, morally bankrupt."

2015 December 7, Brook Becker, “New sexual health course based on relationships in Gossip Girl”, in The Collegian, University of Tulsa, page 14:

She longed to go to him, embrace him, and more -- but she knew he'd never allow it, so she contented herself vagueblogging about him and posting raunchy "jokes".

2019, J. C. Cheesman, Wish Fulfillment, unnumbered page:

use Tumblr to vagueblog
about him, go back
and delete every post
you have tagged with his name.

2020, Anonymous, "The Gen Z Guide to Letting Him Go", The Greenleaf Review 2020 (Guilford College), page 41

(Internet, neologism) To post deliberately cryptic statements on a social media or blogging platform.


coronatime

Our experience of time isn’t just different because we are fearful or bored, cooped up or overworked. It has changed because we don’t yet know what to measure it against. Coronatime has no scale.

2020 May 8, Arielle Pardes, “There Are No Hours or Days in Coronatime”, in Wired, archived from the original on 2023-03-29:

This article has argued that the period of forced isolation during the disruptive and uncertain months of coronatime materialized the unexpected affective potential of virtual touching. Our initial experience of social distancing and the silence of coronatime seemed to void life.

2020 September 22, Vivienne Bozalek, Denise Newfield, Nike Romano, Lieve Carette, Katharine Naidu, Veronica Mitchell, Alex Noble, “Touching Matters: Affective Entanglements in Coronatime”, in Qualitative Inquiry, volume 27, number 7, →DOI:

The pandemic has highlighted the stark difference between Boristime and Coronatime. Because he is unable to treat the country as grown-ups and can't handle being the bearer of bad news, Boris invariably shortens any given Covid time frame.

2021 November 2, John Crace, A Farewell to Calm: The New Normal Survival Guide, Faber & Faber, →ISBN, page 153:

(neologism) The period of the COVID-19 pandemic.


transblack

“I do think a more complex label would be helpful, but we don’t really have that vocabulary. I feel like the idea of being trans-black would be much more accurate than ‘I’m white’. Because you know, I’m not white. […]”

2017 February 25, Decca Aitkenhead, “Rachel Dolezal: ‘I’m not going to stoop and apologise and grovel’”, in The Guardian:

[…] “It will happen someday just because people will declare themselves to be transblack.”

2018, Don W. Hill M.D., The Dnr Trilogy: Volume 3: Clinical Justice, Archway Publishing, →ISBN:

[…] Was Rachel Dolezal transblack, or just a white woman in blackface?

2019, Zachary Kramer, Outsiders: Why Difference is the Future of Civil Rights, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:

(rare, neologism, of a person) Identifying as black despite having been born as a member of a different race (typically white).


allonormativity

Because aces differ so much, the ideologies of compulsory sexuality, sex normativity, amatonormativity, and even allonormativity will tend to operate differently upon different types of aces.

2015, Laura, "Asexual community politics and sex aversion", F-ace-ing Silence, Issue 2, January 2015, page 18

The sooner campuses acknowledge asexuality as a sexual identity, the sooner they can begin examining and addressing the ways they perpetuate allonormativity.

2019, Amanda L. Mollett, Brian Lackman, “Asexual Student Invisibility and Erasure in Higher Education: 'I Thought I Was the Only One'”, in Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher, Devika Dibya Choudhuri, Jason L. Taylor, editors, Rethinking LGBTQIA Students and Collegiate Contexts: Identity, Policies, and Campus Climate, unnumbered page:

In such a context, those who identify as asexual, inundated as is common by such norms of what we might refer to as allonormativity, are left, as blogger @theacetheist notes, with only two theses with which to incorrectly regard their existences: “I am not a sexual being, therefore I am not human,” or, alternatively, “I am human, therefore I am a sexual being.”

2019, Constance Bougie, “Pink Gauze, Cold Spirits: Asexual Criticism and Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway”, in Oshkosh Scholar, volume 14, Oshkosh: University of Wisconsin, page 99:

(neologism) The assumption that all human beings are allosexual or alloromantic, i.e. that they experience sexual attraction and/or romantic attraction to other people.


coronatimes

Point is that Coronatimes are definitely inducing a high level of Coronanoia.

2020 April 29, Bill Brownstein, “Coronatimes are inducing a high level of Coronanoia”, in Montreal Gazette:

In precedented times, escaping from New York City for a summer holiday would have been unremarkable. In coronatimes, it was a moral maze.

, Arwa Mahdawi, “Going on holiday during the pandemic – it's just one big guilt trip”, in The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-14:

No longer necessarily refers to the Oxford University course of choice for would-be politicians – in the new #coronatimes PPE has been rebranded and stands for Personal Protective Equipment.

2020 December 10, Harry Cockburn, “‘Riding the ‘ronacoaster’: An A-Z of new terms we’ve learnt during the pandemic”, in The Independent, archived from the original on 2022-07-07:

Much of the daily subjective experience of living in Coronatimes has to do with second-guessing, critical interpretation, and risk-assessment.

2022 August 1, Pegah Mossleh, Corona Phenomenon: Philosophical and Political Questions, BRILL, →ISBN, page 63:

(neologism, rare) The period of the COVID-19 pandemic.


blogathon

(blogging, neologism) A period or event during which one or more people publish a large number of blog posts, usually about a specific subject.


alumnx

The gender-neutral suffix -x replaces the gendered Latinate suffixes -us and -a. Compare Latinx, Mx.

-a-us-x

Since re-booting the Alumnx Council last fall, we've embarked on a fresh direction that we're very excited about. Through projects and initiatives aimed at you, our mission is to provide support, encourage connection, and strengthen the ties of our alumnx community.

2018 Winter/Spring, John Schwerbel, “Alumnx HQ: A Note From the Chair”, in The Pool, number 2, California Institute of the Arts, page 63:

vsc & vcfa alumnx exhibition: “It went like this: the skyline was beautiful on fire,” works by 24 alumnx created in response to contemporary political upheaval, juried by Meg Onli.

2018 May 9, “Art: New This Week”, in Seven Days, volume 23, number 34, Burlington, VT: Da Capo Publishing Inc., page 76:

This study examines the relationship between undergraduate experience and alumnx factors on perceptions of campus climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, and queer (LGBTQ) graduates of four-year higher education institutions in the U.S. […] Findings from the step-wise regression explained 45% of the variance in perceptions of campus climate for LGBTQ alumnx.

2018 Fall, Jason C. Garvey, Maureen A. Flint, Laura A. Sanders, “Perceptions of Campus Climate among LGBTQ Alumnx”, in Philanthropy & Education, volume 2, number 1, →DOI, page 97:

A typical process entails bringing together staff responsible for designing these interactions: admissions, new student orientation, housing, academic advising, student affairs, LGBT+ resource center (if a campus has one), registrar, health providers and health educators, development and alumnx relations, and so forth.

2020, Kristen A. Renn, “Success for LGBT College and University Students”, in Gail Crimmins, editor, Strategies for Supporting Inclusion and Diversity in the Academy: Higher Education, Aspiration and Inequality, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, →DOI, →ISBN, page 191:

(neologism, often proscribed) An alumnus or alumna (of any gender).


Covid normal

(neologism) A lifestyle similar to that before the advent of COVID-19, but where some precautions such as social distancing, hand sanitising, contact tracing protocols, etc., will be in place to help prevent future outbreaks.


scamdemic

Blend of scam + pandemic. Coined by conspiracy theorists to describe the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions of governments and other organizations in response to it.

A similar protest in San Francisco drew about 40 people across the back entrance to City Hall, waving American flags and holding signs, saying things like “Scamdemic!” and “Newsom is a Dictator!”

2020 May 1, Alexei Koseff, Trisha Thadani, “CHP arrests protesters in Sacramento who defy shelter-in-place order to demand California reopen”, in San Francisco Chronicle:

“We are now at the stage where instead of having a pandemic it’s becoming a scamdemic. […]”

2020 June 1, Craig Farrell, Ann Mooney, “Coronavirus in Ireland – McGrath calls for end to ‘scamdemic’ as TDs demand lockdown eases to help kick-start economy”, in The Irish Sun:

"They all claim it's a 'scamdemic' and say the hospitals are empty.

2021 January 6, Amanda Devlin, “Piers Morgan furiously threatens to force Covid-deniers into coronavirus wards without PPE after getting sick abuse”, in The Sun:

Im^([sic]) sure ol’Barn [Barney Lerten] will chime in with the “truth” lol and keep pushing the KTVZ [a local news station] Leftist agenda.. THE SCAMDEMIC CONTINUES..

2021 September 9, Matt3rvrs [username], “Biden announces new vaccine mandates that could cover 100 million Americans”, in KTVZ, comments:

(informal, derogatory, neologism) A period of time where the idea of an ongoing pandemic is used to defraud the general public.

valepandemia

time when an idea of an ongoing pandemic is used to defraud the general public

Many factors have contributed to the global scamdemic, which stands for the influx of online scams during the pandemic on a scale never seen before: a multitude of fraud schemes and their modifications, the automation of most attack stages, the targeting of specific companies and industries, the many possibilities of concealing cybercriminal activity.

2021 June 11, “Global Scamdemic: Scams Become Number One Online Crime”, in Cyber Security Asean, archived from the original on 2021-06-14:

Such rampant cybercrimes have raised concerns about an epidemic of scams – scamdemic – a term coined by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

2023 December 10, Arman Rashid, “Growing ‘Scamdemic’ due to evolving online scams”, in The Star (Malaysia):

(informal, neologism) A reference to the influx of scam cases worldwide.


Bidencare

Blend of Biden (“Joe Biden”) + healthcare or Medicare and perhaps influenced by earlier ObamaCare.

blend

In spite of the plan’s detractors—including President Donald Trump who has characterized both Obamacare and Bidencare as “socialized medicine,” Biden’s plan may be a case of repackaging a plan that already exists.

2020 October 23, Robin Saks Frankel, “Is Bidencare The New Obamacare?”, in Forbes:

Even if Congress cannot pass Medicare for All – they are destined to make a serious effort in passing BidenCare – which is a “public option” where citizens can opt into Medicare.

2021 February 10, Gregg Lawrence, Patsy Writesman, “‘BidenCare’ endangers private health insurance and seniors’ health care”, in Tennessean, USA Today Network, Opinion:

Mr. Biden supports expanding the Affordable Care Act and creating a public option — a plan he has nicknamed Bidencare.

2021 December 14, Sydney Ember, “Where Does Joe Biden Stand on Major Policies?”, in New York Times:

(US, neologism) A healthcare plan created by Joe Biden and based on ObamaCare.


cliodynamics

From Clio (“the Greek goddess of history and heroic poetry”) + dynamics, coined by Russian-American complexity scientist Peter Turchin in 2003, by analogy with cliometrics.

coin

(neologism) The use of mathematical models to explain macrohistorical patterns.


Arabtino

Blend of Arab + Latino. Coined by Stephen Colbert in 2004 for an interview with Sam Jammal, an Arabtino and delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, broadcast on The Daily Show.

They're late enough in 24's run so that the formula insured a minimum of dead episodes, but before the show turned into a lazy parody that marked time between Jack going all Torquemada on some unsuspecting Arabtino.

2010 June 18, Justin Robinson, “Bauer v. Westen”, in The Satellite Show, archived from the original on 2020-11-24:

(US) A person of mixed Arab and Latino ancestry.


Arabtino

I believe her empathy lies in our tie as first‐generation college Latino (Arabtino) doctoral educators navigating a majority upper middle class white campus.

2016 August 5, Yamil Avivi, Latino/a Youth Subcultures in Elizabeth, New Jersey: Memory, Spacemaking, and Citizenship, 1980s-1990s (unpublished PhD thesis; PDF), →DOI, archived from the original on 2020-11-24, Acknowledgements, page ⅳ:

Battling it out are frontrunners Ammar Campa-Najjar, an "Arabtino" American former Obama Administration official, and school board member Josh Butner.

2018 June 1, “Criminal Records”, in Countdown, volume 18, number 1, Arab American Institute Foundation:

(US) Having mixed Arab and Latino ancestry.


Lukashism

From Lukashenko + -ism or borrowed from Russian лукаши́зм (lukašízm).

(neologism) The political and economic system created by Alexander Lukashenko / Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

лукашы́зм

the political and economic system created by Alexander Lukashenko


wokie

Like Marxists, wokies are millenarians, working for a magical tomorrow that owes nothing either to past practice or to human frailties.

2021 June 6, Daniel Hannan, “Communism is evolving. But the new version is no more toxic than the old one”, in The Daily Telegraph:

(neologism, slang, usually derogatory) A person who is woke (aware of social-justice issues).


demosprudence

Coined by Lani Guinie and Gerald Torres in 2008. Blend of demography + jurisprudence.

(law, neologism) perspective that emphasizes ordinary people's agency to recognize rights and influence legal interpretation


Covidtide

From COVID + -tide (“time”), by analogy with liturgical seasons such as Christmastide.

In the past 24 hours I played skyrim for 10, and ate a whole pizza, and that isn't all. Covidtide is exposing the paucity of the american dream much more efficiently than lent

2020 March 22, @subtle_mullet, “In the past 24 hours I played skyrim for 10 […]”, in Twitter, archived from the original on 2020-03-23:

Like so many other congregations, St. Aidan is adapting its life together to realities created by this extended season of “Covidtide.”

2020 November, Dean Pinter, “Prayer and Scripture Are the Daily Bread in Moose Jaw”, in The Saskatchewan Anglican, Regina, Saskatchewan: Diocese of Saskatchewan / Diocese of Saskatoon / Diocese of Qu’Appelle, retrieved 2022-02-07, page 4:

Advent during "Covidtide," as some have termed the pandemic, allows families to enter a type of "family cocoon" or period of dormancy, said Anne Nicklaus, 57, whose family belongs to Our Lady of Peace Parish in Minneapolis.

2020 December 2, Maria Wiering, “Catholics Say They’re Able to Deepen Their Approach to Advent Season This Year”, in Angelus (Catholic News Service), Los Angeles, retrieved 2020-02-07:

Even in lockdown, even in Covidtide, our house has continued to brim over with life.

2021, Brad East, The Doctrine of Scripture, Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, →ISBN, page xvi:

COVID-19 might have further ruptured Christian unity as we debated mandatory vaccines and masking, but there’s one thing we can all agree on based on our experiences over Covidtide: Video calls are a bad substitute for human presence.

2021 December, Ted Olsen, “Screening Visitors”, in Christianity Today, volume 65, number 9, →ISSN, page 22:

(neologism, chiefly Christianity) The period of the COVID-19 pandemic.


white shield

The purpose of this white shield around black bodies was to prevent the threat of violence by the police against the black students.

2020, Awino Okech, Gender, Protests and Political Change in Africa, Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 2:

(neologism) White people who make a formation around black people in order to protect them from racist violence.


covid-wise

en-adj

covid-wise (comparative more covid-wise, superlative most covid-wise)

more covid-wise (comparative)
most covid-wise (superlative)

(neologism) Sensible and safe regarding COVID-19.


whiteshift

(neologism) The demographic decline of white majorities in various Western jurisdictions.


ram-don

Blend of ramen + udon, coined by Darcy Paquet when writing the subtitles for the 2019 South Korean film Parasite.

(neologism) jjapaguri/chapaguri; a dish made from the combination of two Korean instant noodle brands.


vaxxie

Blend of vax (“vaccine”) + selfie. Coined in late 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Perhaps you’ve seen your first “vaxxies” — naturally, photos that people take of themselves getting a coronavirus vaccine and then post on social media. The country has already distributed over one million doses to health care workers, but who’s next?

2020 December 27, Charlotte Cowles, “The Week in Business: The Bitter End”, in The New York Times:

Posting a ‘vaxxie’ (rarely a true a selfie, for logistical reasons) is becoming the unexpected social media trend of 2021, and led by a just as unexpected band of influencers. […] Inevitably, there will be some who deem vaxxies to be as smug, performative and fatuous as all other social media crazes.

2021 January 19, Guy Kelly, “The rise of the vaxxie – and why the Greek PM’s Herculean effort is more important than you might think”, in The Daily Telegraph:

(slang, neologism) A photograph (especially a selfie) of a person receiving a vaccine, often shared on social media.


vaxxie

From vaxx + -ie, Coined by 4chan in mid 2021.

Vaxxie, Vaxxie, heart attacksie, Takes his tests and wears his maskies, Still got Covid, every strain, Got spike proteins in his brain

2022 June 11, “/pol/ - Politically Incorrect”, in 4chan, retrieved 2023-09-09:

(slang, neologism, derogatory) A person who has received the COVID-19 vaccine.


Airbnb

en-verb

Airbnb (third-person singular simple present Airbnbs or Airbnb's, present participle Airbnbing or Airbnb'ing, simple past and past participle Airbnbed or Airbnb'ed or Airbnb'd)

Airbnbs (present singular third-person)
Airbnb's (present singular third-person)
Airbnbing (participle present)
Airbnb'ing (participle present)
Airbnbed (participle past)
Airbnbed (past)
Airbnb'ed (participle past)
Airbnb'ed (past)
Airbnb'd (participle past)
Airbnb'd (past)

/ˌɛəɹˌbiːɛnˈbiː/

Shortening of the company's former name AirBed & Breakfast, coined by co-founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia in 2007, who originally came up with the idea of putting an air mattress in their living room and turning it into a bed and breakfast. Equivalent to air + B&B (“bed and breakfast”).

airbnbiser

to use Airbnb or another intermediary to rent an apartment, whether as a lessor or a lessee

Jamie Wong […] told me: “I moved out of my apartment in central San Francisco, rented a cheaper annex in a friend’s home, and ‘airbnb-ed’ my apartment for $200 a night and earned about $20,000 in a year. It enabled me to bootstrap my start-up. Airbnb was our first round of funding!”

2013 July 20, Thomas L. Friedman, “Welcome to the ‘Sharing Economy’”, in The New York Times:

"In neighborhoods like the Mission, which has become ground zero for displacement, you see that as high as 40 percent of the housing stock that could be rented is being Airbnb'ed," said Supervisor David Campos in an interview.

2015 May 16, Biz Carson, “The fight between Airbnb and San Francisco just got nastier”, in Business Insider:

By Airbnb-ing out their apartment one week a month, Connors and her roommate could clear their four-thousand-dollar rent. […] Suzette Sundae, a musician wearing a fifties-style swing dress and a white cardigan over her tattoos, said that she ran a vintage-clothing store in Park Slope. When the store’s traffic fell off, she had Airbnb-ed her home.

2017 May 8, Nathan Heller, “Is the Gig Economy Working?”, in The New Yorker:

His response to this underlying anxiety was to escape to Barcelona, a city he had previously written a love song for, where he AirBnBed a flat with the owner (“Like, no one ever does that”). With the opportunity to be anonymous, he could look after himself.

2017 July 4, Louise Bruton, “George Ezra: 'It's 2am, someone puts on War On Drugs and says "but no . . . really listen" ’”, in The Irish Times:

Because two lines mean, yeh, you are all kinds of pregnant. You've basically AirBNB'ed your womb; another human being is setting up camp in your innards.

2018, Grace Timothy, Lost in Motherhood:

(transitive, neologism) To rent (an apartment) by Airbnb or similar means, whether as a lessor or a lessee.

Somehow, we imagine, Mariah Carey’s Airbnb experience is going to be slightly different. Carey is, per Page Six, going to be renting a $10,000-per-night property on Malibu’s “Billionaires’ Beach,” […] Page Six says that she will be Airbnb-ing at least until the end of August, when she leaves for a concert in Israel.

2015 July 30, Josh Duboff, “Mariah Carey Is Renting an Airbnb for $10,000 a Night”, in Vanity Fair:

After his lawyer friend forced him to stop hosting, he bought his own home in the area. He was renovating it to turn it into the perfect upscale listing. […] By coincidence, Mark's neighbor was also Airbnb-ing, charging $550 a night for a nearly identical place. Mark was expecting to earn at least that much.

2020, Juliet B. Schor, After the Gig: How the Sharing Economy Got Hijacked and How to Win It Back, Oakland, CA: University of California Press, →ISBN, page 121:

In fact, I’m at my daughter’s house in Nashville—we came down here and quarantined for 12 days, Airbnb’ed, and moved into her house, because she’s about to give birth any second. And I brought my sewing with me—I’m excited for the future.

2020 October 28, Tom Lanham, “Rosanne Cash Calls Us to "Crawl into the Promised Land"”, in Paste:

(intransitive, neologism) To pursue this activity by Airbnb or similar means, whether as a lessor or a lessee.


self-partnered

(neologism) single (not involved in a romantic relationship)


Obamunist

Did you have the audacity to suggest ObamaCare seemed like a bad idea? Then you're a “typical wingnut douchebag.” Were you foolish enough to point out something the Obama administration did right? “Keep drinking that Obamunist Kool-Aid, dipshit.”

2011, Brian Sack, The B.S. of A.: A Primer in Politics for the Incredibly Disenchanted, page 25:

An anonymous commenter wrote into Carender's blog: "Success is yours, the Obamunists are on the run."

2012, Michael Grabell, Money Well Spent?: The Truth Behind the Trillion Dollar Stimulus, the Biggest Economic Recovery Plan in History, page 87:

The Traditional Values Coalition called for a stop to “Obamunists'” attempt to destroy private health care.

2018, Clyde Wilcox, Onward Christian Soldiers?: The Religious Right in American Politics, unnumbered page:

(neologism, derogatory) A supporter of US president Barack Obama.


tucute

McConnell said that because of this, people who do have gender dysphoria and wish to take those same hormones or have the surgery have less access to these resources as "tucutes" have already used some of them.

2018 December 14, Natalie Cerf, “How The Media And The LGBTQ+ Community Interact”, in Redwood Bark, Redwood High School, Larkspur, CA, page 14:

Generally, tucutes are defined by their belief that gender dysphoria isn’t necessary to be transgender.

2019, Jessica Rae Fisher, "Transgender Digital Embodiments: Questions Of The Transgender Body In The 21st Century", thesis submitted to Kennesaw State University (May 2019), page 38

I personally fall closer to the transmedicalist end of the transmed/tucute political spectrum; but, my position does not give me, or any other person in the transmed or tucute community, the right to belittle other people.

2019, Olliver Benton, "'I'm Not Afraid of My Name Anymore'", Aerial (Atherton High School, Louisville, KY), Volume 94, Issue 4, Summer 2019, page 33

(Internet slang, neologism) A person who believes that gender dysphoria is not an essential requirement for being transgender.


heteronationalism

en-noun

heteronationalism (countable and uncountable, plural heteronationalisms)

(neologism) The association of a nationalist ideology with heterosexual ideals used against LGBTI people and as an antagonism of countries where LGBTI rights have been legislated.


NFT

en-verb

NFT (third-person singular simple present NFTs, present participle NFTing, simple past and past participle NFTed or NFT'd)

NFTs (present singular third-person)
NFTing (participle present)
NFTed (participle past)
NFTed (past)
NFT'd (participle past)
NFT'd (past)

Typically, the art object that gets NFT’d is a digital file — maybe a JPEG image or an MP4 video — that lives on some hard drive, and that looks or sounds precisely the way it would have in the decades before NFTs came along.

2022 March 3, Blake Gopnik, “One Year After Beeple, the NFT Has Changed Artists. Has It Changed Art?”, in The New York Times:

(transitive, cryptocurrencies, neologism) To associate a non-fungible token (NFT) with.


vaccine diplomacy

(neologism) The use of COVID-19 vaccines to gain diplomatic advantage in international affairs.


vaccine shopping

Compare shop around (“to actively search and compare options before making a selection or choice of vendor”).

Because vaccines remain in short supply in the United States, there’s been little evidence of vaccine shopping. But preferences have cropped up in Europe, driven partly by nationalism […] and partly by a hunt for the most effective shot possible.

2021 March 1, Robert Weisman, “State officials, community leaders try to dissuade residents from vaccine ‘shopping’”, in The Boston Globe:

(neologism) The practice of seeking out a certain vaccine that one considers to be superior to other available options, and refusing those other options.


organivore

From organic + -vore, by analogy with words like omnivore and herbivore.

Organivores, those in pursuit of an organic diet and lifestyle, can expect to see Europe's new organics logo on imported organic foods in supermarkets, in Australia and elsewhere, during the course of 2010.

2010, John Paull, “The New Organics Logo for Europe”, in Journal of Bio-Dynamics Tasmania:

The Organivore is often shopping at farmers markets and want to know exactly where their food is coming from.

2013 January, Erin Green, “A Study of Travelers' Foodie Activity Dimensions, Demographic Characteristics, and Trip Behaviors (Master's Thesis, East Carolina University)”, in The ScholarShip: East Carolina University's Institutional Repository:

Just as the organivores who want to rewind history to the pre-industrial stage of agriculture, the Paleo-eaters wish to return to a pre-agricultural past.

2016, Xinghua Li, Environmental Advertising in China and the USA:

Increasing awareness of the ecological, social, and ethical problems associated with the conventional agro-food system has caused certain subsets of consumers to participate more actively in the developing AFN by consuming food that emerges from the AFN; some even identify as “locavores” (consumers of local food; Stanton, Wiley, & Wirth, 2012) or “organivores” (a neologism used to describe consumers of organic food).

2016 October, Michaela J.Barnett, Weston R.Dripps, Kerstin K.Blomquist, “Organivore or organorexic? Examining the relationship between alternative food network engagement, disordered eating, and special diets”, in Appetite, volume 105:

According to my respondents and other resources on the Internet, there are different types of foodies and the most popular are: the vegan, the vegetarian, the flexitarian (eats mostly vegetables and occasionally meat), the DIY, the food-intolerant, the organivore (eats just organic food), the food blogger, etc.

2017, N Vojnović, “Contradictions, Individualism, and Conformity in the Realm of Social Media”, in CORE:

Chapter four entitled “The ‘Organivore’s’ Dilemma: Social (in)equality on organic food marketing” theorises the different approaches to organic food marketing, grounded in two radically different political perceptions of organic food. This distinction rests on the argument that while Chinese consumers understand organic food as the purview of the elite (since “clean” food has traditionally been reserved for senior statesmen or those in high social positions), American consumers view organic food as connected to anti-corporate sentiments, preservation of small-scale farming and a sense of social advocacy.

2017 May, Hélène de Burgh-Woodman, “Environmental advertising in China and the USA: the desire to go green”, in Book Review:

(rare, neologism) An enthusiast of organically grown/raised food, with an entirely or mostly organic diet.


Wormworld

(paleontology, informal, neologism) An ecosystem characteristic of the later Ediacaran, when animal life was dominated by surface-dwelling worms.

wormworld

an age dominated by worms, a region dominated by worm-life


vellichor

Coined by American author and neologist John Koenig, creator of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, as a blend of vellum (“parchment”) and ichor. Compare petrichor.

coin

It seemed that nobody else was in the shop, so I wandered around, both intimidated and entranced by the sense of vellichor as I traced my fingers along the leather spines of books beyond my time.

2017, Ana Kimm, "The Bookstop", Ink Stains (Pechersk School International, Kiev, Ukraine), Summer 2017, page 86

Bringing the drawing to his face, he closed his eyes, inhaling the paper's vellichor, the opium-like smell of yesteryear and childhood.

I stepped inside to see rows and rows of old books and tables to sit at. The vellichor of the place hit me in the face like a cold harsh wind.

2019, Brooke Santoyo, Hanakatoba, page 36:

(neologism) The pensive nostalgia and temporality of used bookstores; the feeling evoked by the scent of old books or paper.


hyperbitcoinization

(neologism) A major or widespread bitcoinization (process of adopting bitcoin as a form of currency).


endosex

From endo- + sex. Coined as a counterpart to intersex by Heike Bödeker in 2000 (in English, following Bödeker's coinage of German endosexuell in 1999).

Intersex as an ostentation of the endosex group phantasy.

2000 June 30, Heike Bödeker, "Symposium on intersexuality", at the European Federation of Sexology Congress in Berlin, Germany

DOING ENDOSEX
Alongside increased attention to and debate about sexual and gender diversity, more equitable social relations require serious attention to the ways social authorities do or construct the sex categories that provide the basis for doing gender and sexualities. Although many endosex people—regardless of gender or sexuality identity—treat sex as something people possess as a straightforward categorization of genital shape and appearance, these beliefs rely upon a simplification of biological diversity that negatively impacts […] intersex people.

2019, J. E. Sumerau, Lain A.B. Mathers, America through Transgender Eyes, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 139:

Scholars refer to those people who “fit neatly” into these male/female exclusive categorizations as endosex. Endosex people are assigned male or female, and often think very little about this assignment—or the possibility that it was incorrect in any biologically empirical way—throughout their lives unless something unexpected forces them to consider it.

2020, Alexandra C. H. Nowakowski, J. E. Sumerau, Nik M. Lampe, Transformations in Queer, Trans, and Intersex Health and Aging, Lexington Books, →ISBN, page 7:

[S]ocial authorities generally design and disseminate selective versions of science, religion, and media that emphasize some elements of social life (e.g., cis experience, hetero- and monosexuality, upper=class experience, endosex [i.e., non-intersex] categorization and downplay or otherwise erase other aspects of social life (e.g., Blackness or other non-white racial experience, trans experience, […]

2021, Abbie E. Goldberg, Genny Beemyn, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies, SAGE Publications, Incorporated, →ISBN, page 237:

A second pathway may be found in recent work published on the ways endosex (i.e., those assigned male or female by society) people respond to the existence of intersex people (Sumerau and Cragun, 2018).

2021, Dirk vom Lehn, Natalia Ruiz-Junco, Will Gibson, The Routledge International Handbook of Interactionism, Routledge, →ISBN:

(neologism) Not intersex; born with sex characteristics that are considered typically male or female.


relationshit

From blend of relationship + shit, taken from such phrases as the relationship has gone to shit.

My marriage has gone from a relationship to a relationshit.

(neologism, vulgar) A failed or failing relationship.


wolf warrior

Calque from Chinese 戰狼／战狼 (zhànláng), taken from the movie Wolf Warrior 2.

wolf-warrior diplomacy

China’s “wolf warrior” diplomats — named after a set of films in which Chinese special-operations fighters defeat western-led mercenaries — have emerged over the past three years. But the virus has pushed their combative tactics to the centre of Beijing’s foreign policy approach.

2020 May 12, Kathrin Hille, “‘Wolf warrior’ diplomats reveal China’s ambitions”, in Financial Times, archived from the original on 2020-07-03:

Wolf-warrior diplomacy is a manifestation of Xi's effort to shift toward assertive diplomacy away from the low-profile diplomacy engineered by Deng and practised by Presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao.

2022, Axel Berkofsky, Giulia Sciorati, editors, China’s Foreign Policies Today: Who is in Charge of What, Ledizioni, →ISBN:

(neologism) A Chinese diplomat perceived to respond aggressively towards criticism of Communist China.


midwit

From mid- + wit; likely coined in line with nitwit, halfwit, etc.

How then should we not be midwits? Painting with broad strokes: avoid media. Cultivate taste. Grow and train your sense of aesthetics. Recognize beauty. Practice virtue. Pray.

2022 July 1, Merri, “Brief Genealogy of the Midwit”, in The Pillarist:

A true paragon nation captures the midwit, get-the-news-from-Trevor-Noah demographic.

2023 February 11, Janan Ganesh, “After Germany's fall, which is the paragon nation?”, in FT Weekend, page 22:

Congress is packed with midwits. There are no intellectuals in Congress. None could flourish in such a mediocre environment.

2023 February 21, David Sinclair, The Wolf Tamers: How They Made the Strong Weak:

(neologism, chiefly Internet slang, mildly derogatory) A person of middling intellect; someone who is neither particularly dumb nor notably intelligent, especially if they act as if they are smarter than they are.


anthropause

From anthro- + -pause. Coined by a team of researchers and scientists in June 2020 in an article discussing the possible impact of COVID-19 lockdown on wildlife.

The enforced global 'anthropause' during part of 2020 was also a reminder of the importance of timing: we have become used to having the things we need.

2020, Alan Parkinson, Why Study Geography?, page 40:

Thus, the COVID-19 lockdown has led to a significant global reduction in human mobility, notably travel, causing an “anthropause” (Rutz et al., 2020).

2021 November, Amanda E. Bates, Richard B. Primack, Brandy S. Biggar, Tomas J. Bird, Mary E. Clinton, “Global COVID-19 lockdown highlights humans as both threats and custodians of the environment”, in Biological Conservation, volume 263, →DOI, →ISSN:

A growing body of literature paints a complex portrait of the slowdown of human activity that has become known as the “anthropause.”

[2022 July 16, Emily Anthes, “Did Nature Heal During the Pandemic ‘Anthropause’?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(neologism) A global reduction in modern human activity resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.


cheugy

en-adj

cheugy (comparative more cheugy or cheugier, superlative most cheugy or cheugiest)

more cheugy (comparative)
cheugier (comparative)
most cheugy (superlative)
cheugiest (superlative)

Reportedly coined by American high school student Gaby Rasson in 2013 to describe "people who were slightly off trend" and subsequently popularized by her peers.

Alex Lugger, 32, a boat marketer in Springfield, Mo., said that she self identifies as a bit cheugy. (She also learned about the word through TikTok.) “We were basic in our 20s and now we’re cheugy in our 30s,” she said.

2021 April 29, Taylor Lorenz, “What is ‘cheugy’? You know it when you see it”, in New York Times, Style:

Derived from the notoriously cheugy “live, laugh, love,” the mantra “gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss” found its funny by lumping together online phenomena the internet hates most.

2021 September 22, Carter Sawatzky, “An Autopsy Of #Girlboss Feminism”, in Mars' Hill, Trinity Western University, page 15:

"You might want to ditch the Crocs to pass the vibe check," Siobhan whispered. "They're a little cheugy."

2022, Claire Cook, Must Love Dogs: Lucky Enough, unnumbered page (published 4 March 2022)

(Internet slang, neologism, chiefly US) Uncool; tryhard.


surge testing

Reading Borough Council will also be conducting surge testing in targeted areas, and has several test centres that may be better suited to residents in Bulmershe and Whitegates

2021 June 17, “Surge testing to start in Wokingham Borough to control spread of Covid-19 variant”, in Wokingham Borough Council News Centre, archived from the original on 2022-10-15:

(UK, neologism) Increased testing for, and tracing of, people with coronavirus within a particular area, in an attempt to study and limit the spread.


betager

/ˈbeɪtəd͡ʒɚ/

Coined by Mertronus in 2021, from the words beta + manager

(fanfiction, neologism) A beta reader who doubles as a manager of a particular author(s)


wokery

The backlash against corporate wokery is well under way. Victoria's Secret earlier this month rowed back on the diversity agenda after profits fell and it worked out that its typical customer just wants to look slim and attractive.

2023 October 29, Matthew Lynn, “It will take Unilever a long time to shed its woke nonsense”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-11-05:

(neologism, derogatory, chiefly UK) The opinions, actions, and behaviours associated with wokeism or wokeist ideologies.


Nightingale court

en-noun

Nightingale court (plural Nightingale courts)

Derived from the establishment of temporary hospitals to house the surplus of patients created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the first being NHS Nightingale in Canning Town, East London. Ultimately named after British nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale.

named-after

The Lowry Theatre in Manchester is to be turned into a Nightingale court as part of the Government's bid to clear a 500,000-case backlog.

2020 September 22, “Lowry Theatre lands new role as Nightingale court”, in The Daily Telegraph, page 4:

CIRENCESTER’S former magistrates court will become a ‘Nightingale Court’ to help deal with the hearing backlog. There are more than 1,000 criminal cases are waiting to be heard in Gloucestershire – a record high and a number that has more than doubled since the start of the pandemic.

2020 December 3, “‘Nightingale Court’ may open next month”, in The Gloucestershire Echo, page 5:

The Mercure Nottingham Sherwood Hotel, in Mansfield Road, has become a “Nightingale Court”, which the Ministry of Justice said will “free up the Crown Court for more jury trials.”

2021 March 25, Matt Jarram, “Hotel is ‘Nightingale Court’”, in Nottingham Evening Post, page 6:

MOST nightingale courts in England and Wales – including the one in Swansea – will be kept open for another year in a bid to cut backlogs of cases and reduce the time victims spend waiting for justice.

2023 February 20, “Nightingale court to continue”, in South Wales Evening Post, Swansea, page 8:

(UK, neologism) A temporary court in England and Wales established to deal with the backlog of legal cases brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020.


AstraZeneca

The company was formed by the merger of Astra AB and Zeneca. Astra is from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓́στρον (ástron, “star”), whereas Zeneca, the company stated, “is an invented name, created by an agency instructed to find a name which began with a letter from either the top or bottom of the alphabet and was phonetically memorable, of no more than three syllables and did not have an offensive meaning in any language.”

I am over the age of 60. I have a choice of AstraZeneca, AstraZeneca or AstraZeneca - or die of Covid.

2021 July 2, The NT News, Darwin, page 22, column 2:

(neologism) The COVID-19 vaccine made by the AstraZeneca company.


travel bubble

administrative region
administrative region

(neologism) An arrangement between two (or more) countries, states, or other administrative regions, that allows free travel of residents between them while otherwise keeping their borders closed to travellers from outside the bubble.


double-jabbed

Double-jabbed adults will no longer be forced to isolate at home after coming into contact with someone with Covid, Boris Johnson has declared.

2021 May 7, Paul Waugh, “Double-Jabbed Adults Will No Longer Have To Isolate At Home After Covid ‘Contact’”, in Huffington Post UK:

The requirement for double-jabbed people to isolate after contact with a positive case is due to end on 16 August, four weeks after the majority of England's Covid rules are set to end, to allow more people to be vaccinated.

2021 July 8, Hamish Mackay, Alex Kleiderman, “Covid-19: Amber list quarantine for fully vaccinated to end on 19 July”, in BBC News:

Self-isolation will also be removed for arrivals from Amber list countries from July 19, if they have been double jabbed within a UK vaccine programme.

2021 July 13, Elsa Maishman, “Covid Scotland: Self-isolation requirement to be scrapped for double jabbed from August 9”, in The Scotsman:

It comes just days before Freedom Day, with ministers urging everyone to get double jabbed.

2021 July 14, Ellie Cambridge, “Two-thirds of British adults now double jabbed as Boris beats Freedom Day target”, in The Sun:

Graham McLeod, from Bolton, who has been staying on on France's Atlantic coast, said he would also have to isolate despite being double-jabbed.

2021 July 16, Sophie Morris, “COVID-19: Travellers frustrated at 'chaotic' government U-turn over France quarantine rule”, in Sky News:

Starting yesterday, primary schools can arrange extracurricular activities for pupils double-jabbed for more than two weeks after classes or during the other half of a school day.

2022 October 26, Lilian Cheng, Fiona Sun, Danny Mok, “Full-day primary classes to resume if 70pc double-jabbed”, in South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, page A1:

(US, UK, neologism) Of a person, having received both doses (jabs) of a COVID vaccine.


ambassadonor

Earlier this year, three of Obama’s "ambassadonor" picks raised eyebrows in their confirmation hearing testimony.

2014 May 8, “These are the 'essential skills' needed to be an Obama ambassadonor”, in Yahoo! News:

Stumbles by other "ambassadonors" have played into a Republican narrative that the administration has been giving too many plum assignments to financial contributors.

2014 December 13, Paul Richter, “Obama donor George Tsunis ends his nomination as Norway ambassador”, in Los Angeles Times:

"Jane Hartley is more talented and much more prepared than most of President Obama's 'ambassadonors'," Hendershott said.

2015 January 13, James Warren, Dareh Gregorian, “U.S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley is big fundraiser for President Obama”, in New York Post:

During the campaign, Biden refused to rule out embracing the tradition of naming what I've called "ambassadonors," but promised in December 2019 "nobody, in fact, will be appointed by me based on anything they contributed."

2021 July 12, Olivier Knox, “The Daily 202: Biden nominates 'ambassadonor' to France”, in The Washington Post:

(neologism) Someone selected as an ambassador based at least in part upon their history of political donations or contributions.


test and trace

This is the world of “test and trace.” In the past month [i.e., since early March 2020], the coronavirus pandemic has necessitated a deep freeze of US activity.

2020, Meredith Celene Schwartz, The Ethics of Pandemics, page 104:

However, contracts to run certain other elements of test and trace services in England, including contact tracing for non-complex cases, were awarded to private companies with little experience in the area.

2021, Scott L. Greer, Elizabeth King, Elize Massard da Fonseca, Coronavirus Politics:

(neologism) A means of combating coronavirus by taking samples from individuals and instructing those who are infected to isolate themselves from others and provide details of their recent close contacts, who are also told to isolate.


enbyphobia

From enby + -phobia, patterned on homophobia, transphobia, etc.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:enbyphobia.

(neologism) Fear, dislike, or hatred of non-binary people and/or of non-binariness.

embyphobie

Fear, dislike or hatred of non-binary people


cistem

It is this toilet cistem that served to cement the spatially constructed division between man and woman that is still present today.

2017, Nigel Patel, “Violent cistems: Trans experiences of bathroom space”, in Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, volume 31, number 1, page 52:

I can think of no better role model for a transgender individual, particularly one looking to tackle the "cistem" of health care.

2019, Kyan Lynch, “The Trans Man and the Warrior Women”, in Transgender Health, volume 4, number 1, page 278:

Capital High’s school culture is seemingly accepting to the LGBTQIA+ population, yet it is also one saturated by a white heteropatriarchal cistem, and continued education and activism are required to combat this.

2022, Kenan Omercajic, “'Basement Boys' in the All-Gender Bathroom: Investigating Student-Inspired Trans-Activism and White Cisgenderist Barriers to Supporting Trans Students in School”, in Teacher College Record, volume 124, number 8, page 229:

(LGBTQ, social sciences, neologism) A system or societal structure that privileges cisgender people and marginalizes transgender people.


pingdemic

Blend of ping + pandemic, coined in 2021.

The Metropolitan Line was forced to close on July 17 because so many workers were self-isolating that insufficient control room staff remained to run the service.

2021 July 28, Paul Clifton, “Network News: COVID 'pingdemic' forces Metropolitan Line closure”, in RAIL, number 936, page 10:

Output in consumer-facing services fell 0.3 per cent in July, the first decline since January, mainly because of a 2.5 per cent drop in retail sales during bad weather and a spike in cases in mid-July that caused the so-called "pingdemic", after the NHS Covid-19 app ordered hundreds of thousands to self-isolate.

2021 September 11, Valentina Romei, “Recovery slows as 'pingdemic' dents growth: Delta variant”, in Financial Times, London, page 3:

To that end, testing should be used to keep society open not shut it down, which is what is happening now despite Mr Johnson's intentions. That lesson should have been learnt with the "pingdemic" last summer but apparently was not.

2022 January 5, “‘Pingdemic’ lessons: established 1855”, in The Daily Telegraph, London, page 17:

The NHS Covid-19 app behind the controversial “pingdemic” is to be shut down next month. The digital contact tracing service, which crippled businesses and forced millions of workers into quarantine, will stop working on April 27 for lack of use.

2023 March 29, “‘Pingdemic’ Covid app to be locked down forever”, in The Daily Telegraph, page 2:

(UK, informal, neologism) The rapid rise in self-isolation resulting from many people being sent advisory alerts ("pings") by the National Health Service’s COVID-19 test and trace app for mobile phones.


NISQ

Coined by physicist John Preskill in 2018 (see quotations below).

coin

For this talk, I needed a name to describe this impending new era, so I made up a word: NISQ. This stands for Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum.

[2018, John Preskill, “Quantum Computing in the NISQ era and beyond”, in Quantum, volume 2, page 82:

The quantum computing era that we are living in today is known as the NISQ era, as mentioned in the previous section.

2021, Srinjoy Ganguly, Thomas Cambier, Quantum Computing with Silq Programming, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 86:

Initially, Google would be focusing on so-called "noisy intermediate-scale quantum" (NISQ) algorithms, he said. NISQ is the low-hanging fruit of quantum computing that scientists hope will make the technology useful this decade.

2022 July 28, “Google seeks quantum gains in Aussie labs”, in The Australian Financial Review, Melbourne, page 3:

To my knowledge, this is the first piece of work to demonstrate quantum benefit using a NISQ machine to solve militarily important problems and that will build confidence and underpin continued investment in quantum information processing by the UK MOD and Government.

2023 January 13, “United Kingdom: Making better, faster decisions with quantum computing”, in Asia News Monitor, Bangkok:

(quantum computing, attributive, neologism) Acronym of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (computer).


cister

Support all your sisters, not just your cisters!

So let the show begin, black femme cisters, unleash your pinks and let the show begin!

2018, Omise'eke Natasha Tinsley, Ezili's Mirrors: Imagining Black Queer Genders, unnumbered page:

I feel like sometimes, in our need to prove our worth we forget to tell our "cisters" how much they matter to us.

2018, Ariadni Tzounakou, “From Woman to Woman”, in Fliqped Magazine, number 11, page 23:

As I write, I see and hear the many sister (not cister) friends and colleagues and comrades who have been a part of this conversation.

2021, Zillah Eisenstein, Abolitionist Socialist Feminism: Radicalizing the Next Revolution, page 21:

(LGBTQ, neologism) A cisgender woman, especially one that is part of a community that includes trans women.


finfluencer

→ German: Finfluencer, Finfluenzer

→ Macedonian: финфлуенсер (finfluenser)

desc

финфлюе́нсер

финфлюэ́нсер

→ Russian: финфлюе́нсер (finfljujénser), финфлюэ́нсер (finfljuénser)

→ Serbo-Croatian: fincluencer／финфлуенсер

(informal, social media, marketing, neologism) An influencer who gives advice on financial investments.


astraphobe

From Ancient Greek ἀστραπή (astrapḗ, “lightning”) + -phobe.

der

If you are an aviator and you aren't an astraphobe, this article is meant for you.

1985, United States Army Aviation Digest, page 16:

The bright lights and dark dissonance starts to wane. But as the child looked, the more he could see. An astraphobe's moments of pure glee.

2021, Khushi Sharma, Aashi Toor, Evoking Nostalgia, BooksClub, page 103:

Astraphobes take note: you're more likely to be hit, and killed, by lightning in Salt Lake County than anywhere else along the Wasatch Front.

2014 March 1, Lightning is more likely to kill you in Salt Lake than in other counties:

With the exception of astraphobes or mystics, the fear of being struck by lightning is not very common.

2020 August 13, “What is the real risk of being struck by lightning?”, in What do you know about lightning strikes?:

For astraphobes, a thunderstorm can be a terrifying experience.

2021 March 11, Sullivan Valdez, The most common phobias:

(neologism, rare) Someone suffering from astraphobia.


hycean

With densities between those of rocky super-Earths and more extended mini-Neptunes, Hycean planets can be optimal candidates in the search for exoplanetary habitability and may be abundant in the exoplanet population.

2021 August, Nikku Madhusudhan, Anjali A. A. Piette, Savvas Constantinou, “Habitability and Biosignatures of Hycean Worlds”, in Astrophysical Journal:

It's thought that the new classification could accelerate the search for life outside our Solar System for one simple reason: planets that fulfil the criteria to be "Hycean" already dominate the known exoplanet population, which is approaching 4,500.

2021 August 25, Jamie Carter, “Is Alien Life Hiding In Plain Sight? New Class Of 'Hycean' Planet Is Where We Should Look, Say Scientists”, in Forbes:

And learning more about Hycean planets could help scientists find biosignatures, or signs of life, outside of our solar system in the near future.

These hydrogen-rich ocean worlds, or hycean worlds, may be habitable.

2021 September 2, Joshua Colwell, Adrienne Dove, James Cooney, “Hycean Worlds and Nudging Asteroids”, in Walkabout the Galaxy:

TOI-2136b is a sub-Neptune transiting a nearby and bright star (J=10.8) and is a potential hycean planet, making it an excellent target for atmospheric studies to understand the formation, evolution, and habitability of the small planets.

2022 February 21, K KawauchiF MurgasE PalleN NaritaA Fukuiet al., “Validation and atmospheric exploration of the sub-Neptune TOI-2136b around a nearby M3 dwarf”, in arXiv.org, →DOI:

While LTT 1445 Ab is not in the traditional habitable zone of its star (Winters et al. 2019), it is considered as a candidate Hycean world where a liquid ocean may exist underneath a H₂-dominated atmosphere.

2022 September 26, Caprice Phillips, Ji Wang, Billy Edwards, Romy Rodriguez Martinez, Anusha Pai Asnodkar, B. Scott Gaudi, “Is LTT 1445 Ab a Hycean World or a cold Haber World? Exploring the Potential of Twinkle to Unveil Its Nature”, in arXiv, →DOI:

(astronomy, planetology, of a planet, neologism) Having a water-based ocean that covers the entire planet, and an atmosphere rich in hydrogen.


mom bod

(slang, neologism) A body type characteristic of a recent mother.


green pass

(neologism) A vaccination card that enables its carrier to enter airports, places of recreation, etc.


biorg

Blend of biological + organism(?), modelled on cyborg, which is from cybernetic + organism.

In this case, the story concerns three pets who have gone missing—a dog named Bandit, a cat named Tinker, and a rabbit named Pirate. These pets have been transformed by the US Air Force into computer-enhanced "biorgs," as part of an army of "efficient animal slaves" designed to take the place of humans […]

2018, David Herman, Narratology beyond the Human: Storytelling and Animal Life:

Biorgs are both cyborgs and companion animals, […] Vint's reading of the biorgs' speech underscores how the comic blurs the division between nature and culture as well as between human and non-human animals. The biorgs may not speak exactly like humans, but their speech communicates […] While canine biorgs' speech […]

2020, Sidney I. Dobrin, EcoComix: Essays on the Environment in Comics and Graphic Novels, McFarland, →ISBN, pages 71–72:

Metaphorically a biorg witch with flowers in her hair, I am presently a doctoral student […]

2021, Florence Ashley, "'X' why? Gender Marks and Non-binary Transgender People", in Isabel Cristina Jaramillo Vélez, Laura Carlson (editors), Trans Rights and Wrongs: A Comparative Study of Legal Reform Concerning Trans Persons, Springer Nature, pages 33-34

(neologism, science fiction, rare) A non-human animal cyborg.


AUKUS

Blend of AU + UK + US; Acronym of Australia + United Kingdom + United States of America.; Coined in 2021

acronym of

And so, friends, AUKUS is born — a new enhanced trilateral security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. AUKUS: a partnership where our technology, our scientists, our industry, our defense forces are all working together to deliver a safer and more secure region that ultimately benefits all.
AUKUS will also enhance our contribution to our growing network of partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region: ANZUS; our ASEAN friends; our bilateral strategic partners, the Quad; Five Eyes countries; and, of course, our dear Pacific family.
The first major initiative of AUKUS will be to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia.

2021 September 15, Scott Morrison, “Remarks by President Biden, Prime Minister Morrison of Australia, and Prime Minister Johnson of the United Kingdom Announcing the Creation of AUKUS”, in White House:

Although Australia, the UK, and US partnership, AUKUS, sounds strange with all these acronyms but it's a good one, AUKUS, our nations will update and enhance our shared ability to take on the threats of the 21st century just as we did in the 20th century: together. Our nations and our brave fighting forces have stood shoulder to shoulder for literally more than one hundred years. Through the trench fighting in World War I, the island hopping of World War II, during the frigid winters of Korea and the scorching heat of the Persian Gulf, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom have long been faithful and capable partners, and are even closer today. Today we take another historic step to deepen and formalize cooperation among all three of our nations, because we all recognize the imperative of insuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific over the long term.

2021 September 17, Joe Biden, Australia's decades-long balancing act between the US and China is over. It chose Washington, CNN:

On Sept. 15, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia unveiled a new security partnership, with the less-than-euphonious acronym AUKUS. The three states are close allies of long standing, but the headline item in the new arrangement is a joint effort to equip Australia with a fleet of advanced nuclear-powered submarines. U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announced plans for more extensive cooperation on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing.
Those basic facts about AUKUS are pretty straightforward. But why it came together—and what it means—is more complicated and far more revealing about where the world is heading.

2021 September 18, Stephen M. Walt, “The AUKUS Dominoes Are Just Starting to Fall”, in Foreign Policy:

AUKUS envisages a wide range of diplomatic and technological collaboration, from cybersecurity to artificial intelligence, but at its core is an agreement to start consultations to help Australia acquire a fleet of nuclear-propelled (though not nuclear-armed) submarines. One consequence of this is Australia cancelling a contract, worth tens of billions of dollars, signed in 2016 with France for diesel-electric submarines. In announcing AUKUS on September 15th with the prime ministers of Australia and Britain, Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson, President Joe Biden stressed that it was about “investing in our greatest source of strength—our alliances”.

2021 September 19, “The strategic reverberations of the AUKUS deal will be big and lasting”, in The Economist:

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was in the US to help announce the landmark AUKUS pact in San Diego this morning.

2023 March 14, “AUKUS deal: Jim Chalmers announces $8 billion HMAS Stirling naval base expansion”, in ABC Premium News (wire feed), Sydney:

(geopolitics, neologism) A security treaty between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; for the construction of nuclear submarines in Australia, and cooperation on cybersecurity and espionage technology; to contain the rise of China in the Indo-Pacific region.


pandejo

Likely borrowed from Spanish pandejo (see below), or formed in English from pandemic and Spanish pendejo (“contemptible person”). Attested from 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’ll happen until we, like these three people bravely did during their reckonings with the dreaded disease, begin to truly call out pandejo behavior.

2020 December 3, Gustavo Arellano, “Don’t be a ‘pandejo.’ Take the pandemic seriously”, in Los Angeles Times:

This is infamously "pandejo" central — the home of pandemic pendejos, or blockheads.

2021 August 4, Gustavo Arellano, “At my wife's Santa Ana market, the masks have never come off”, in The Los Angeles Times:

(derogatory, neologism) One who is foolishly reckless around COVID-19.


shamdemic

Blend of sham + pandemic. Coined by conspiracy theorists to describe the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions of governments and other organizations in response to it.

They waved signs that read “Stop the shamdemic” and “the coronavirus is a hoax.”

2020 May 4, CST Editorial Board, “America’s road back from COVID-19 must begin with an end to the politics of division”, in Chicago Sun Times:

Do please go back and REVIEW the swine flu shamdemic of 1976, which i witnessed. And the 2009 Swine Flu SHAMDEMIC. […]

2021 March 4, Robert Turner, “We Call Out Reiner Fuellmich as a Fraud. The Covid Conspirator Investigated”, in Medika Life:

Even though he [Joe Biden] says that America is improving from the shamdemic, including economically [some how], […]

2021 September 9, Jacob M. Thompson, ““This Is Not About Freedom”: Biden To Require All Large Employers And Federal Workers To Get Vaccinated. *UPDATE*”, in Wine Press:

(informal, derogatory, neologism) Synonym of scamdemic.


lesbiflexible

In recent years, bisexuality has become only one of various orientations identifying with attraction to more than one gender. Eisner (2013) reviews the growing list of identities within the bi-spectrum of "under one umbrella" that include, but are not limited to: pansexual/omnisexual, polysexual, queer, fluid, heterofexible, homoflexible/lesbiflexible, and bicurious.

2017, Gerald P. Mallon, Social Work Practice with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People:

2018, Charlotte A. Archer, The Hierarchy of Rights and the Expression of Values in the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement (master's thesis submitted to Middle Tennessee State University), table 5, sexual orientation: Heteroflexible 2.0% 1 Homoflexible 0.0% 0 Lesbiflexible 0.0% 0

lesbiflexible: describing a woman who identifies as predominantly lesbian but is open to relationships and sexual encounters with men or gender nonconforming partners.

2021, Chloe O. Davis, The Queens' English, The LGBTQIA+ Dictionary of Lingo and Colloquial Phrases, page 196:

(LGBTQ, neologism) Primarily lesbian, but with a limited amount of attraction to men, or a limited desire to partake in romantic or sexual activity with a man.


anti-jabber

To me, two things are obvious. First, those of us who get the jab should not be held hostage by those who refuse it. The anti-jabbers do so at their own risk, and once we get to the point where all those who actually want the jab in Australia have received it, then it should be game on.

2021 May 23, Peter FitzSimons, “I’ve got a plan to get all the anti-jabbers to get their shots”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:

(British, Australia, New Zealand, informal, neologism) A person who opposes vaccination or refuses to be vaccinated (especially against COVID-19).


sigma male

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I was the timid boy, but now developed in the Sigma Male. Captain of my own tug boat, but soon I'll have that Yacht to Sail.

2010, Sergio J.L.H. Sanders, Life Medsᵀᴹ, Breakfast & Orange Juice, page 53:

Recently, chatter on social media has people buzzing about the oh-so-rare sigma male.

2021 March 9, “What is a sigma male — the so-called rarest man?”, in National Post:

You can be a piece of shit and be an alpha male, but you can't be a piece of shit and be a high value man. Sigma male is getting closer.

2021, Stephen Rodrigues, The Power Game, page 139:

(Internet slang, neologism, often humorous) A self-reliant and assertive male who occupies a position outside a social or group hierarchy; a lone wolf or maverick.


locktail

(humorous, neologism) A cocktail partaken of by people in COVID-19 lockdown.


birthaversary

The combined celebration of one's birthday and one's anniversary, especially when the two individual events are near each other in date.


yassification

en-noun

yassification (countable and uncountable, plural yassifications)

From yass + -ification. Attested on Twitter from August 2020 with a now-deleted reply by Twitter user @puppyoveralls.

2020 August 26, @puppyoveralls, “I’m choking on the yassification gas”, in Twitter, retrieved March 7, 2022.

Referring to itself as the “yassification” of Wordle, this take on the original puzzle game asks you to guess words which have relevance to the LGBTQIA community.

2022 February 15, Sian Bradley, “The Best Wordle Alternatives”, in Huddersfield Daily Examiner:

Earlier I outlined the way “yaas” functioned as in-group slang, and then as a meme in the form of yassification. Meme aggregate pages post this kind of content to boost their own profile, making money off ads and merchandise. Eventually, the commodification is so far reaching that it is disconnected not just from QTPOC, and not just from queerness, but disconnected from any community meaning at all. This can be seen with Yaasification shirts available on AliBaba and other mass merchandise sites.

2023, Abbie Levesque DeCamp, Queer Memes: Forms and Communities of Composition (PhD dissertation), Northeastern University, →ISBN, page 114:

(Internet slang, LGBTQ, neologism) The process of making something relevant to or suggestive of LGBTQ+ culture.


attack helicopter

attack helicopter (plural attack helicopters)

[…] but that wasn't “inclusive” enough, so now the gender listing isn't a checkbox with either “male” or “female” — it's a fill-in-the-blank where you can list anything from peanut butter to an attack helicopter as your gender. […]

2018, Mark Dice, Liberalism: Find a Cure, Mark Dice, →ISBN:

'I identify as an attack helicopter' is a regular dismissal of non-binary identities; hearing this can be a weekly occurrence. The support of other non-binary people and bibliotherapy of good non-binary sources can be a remedy to this.

2019, Sam Hope, Person-Centred Counselling for Trans and Gender Diverse People: A Practical Guide, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, →ISBN, page 59:

[…] going to be spending a fair amount of time waiting like a twit in a cosmetic store while your wife / girlfriend / cis-gender / attack helicopter reads every damn label on every damn blusher, or pillar of lipstick, or whatever it is.

2019, Andrew Mackay, The Hunger Diaries, or: How to Lose Weight Fasting and Eating Well, Chrome Valley Books:

(neologism, Internet slang, humorous, derogatory, offensive) A fictitious gender assigned or suggested in quips, used to dismiss non-binary gender identities, and sometimes also transness in general.


mauerbauertraurigkeit

/ˌmaʊɚbaʊɚˈtɹaʊɹɪɡkaɪt/

Pseudo-Germanism, derived from Mauer (“wall”) + Bauer (“builder”) + Traurigkeit (“sorrow”). Coined by American author and neologist John Koenig, creator of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.

pseudo-loan

I think the phenomenon is known as mauerbauertraurigkeit, which is an [in]explicable urge to push people away, even close friends who you really like.

2015, Johnny Close, Eco-Lonely, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 162, →ISBN:

The more I learn
The more different I become
I begin to to^([sic]) feel mauerbauertraurigkeit
On top of adronitis

2019, Quashon Mayes, Geniuses Don t Belong In The Hood, Lulu.com, →ISBN, →ISBN:

‘Briggs!’ I exclaimed, suddenly getting an Mauerbauertraurigkeit urge.

2020, Stevenson Mukoro, Smells Like Death Sighing, Dartford: Xlibris UK, →ISBN, →OCLC, →ISBN:

(neologism, rare) An inexplicable urge to push people away, even close friends.


Pfizermectin

Blend of Pfizer + ivermectin.
Coined by conspiracy theorists in 2021. From the drug pharmacokinetics of nirmatrelvir being similar to ivermectin, and thus supposedly being evidence that Pfizer blocked ivermectin from use by issuing a newly patented medicine of the same function, similar to how drug companies block generic drugs by issuing minor variants of drugs soon to come off patent and receiving a new patent extension.

(pharmacology, slang, conspiracism, neologism) Synonym of nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid)


nirmatrelvir

(pharmacology, neologism) An antiviral drug developed to treat COVID-19, the second to obtain regulatory approval in the Western World, from the FDA in the United States of America.

Paxlovid

trade name compounded drug containing nirmatrelvir and ritonavir


covidiocy

(derogatory, humorous, neologism) Foolish or reckless behavior with respect to avoiding or contracting COVID-19.


doomscroll

en-verb

doomscroll (third-person singular simple present doomscrolls, present participle doomscrolling, simple past and past participle doomscrolled)

doomscrolls (present singular third-person)
doomscrolling (participle present)
doomscrolled (participle past)
doomscrolled (past)

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From doom + scroll, probably a back-formation from doomscrolling.

You doomscroll about all kinds of things including pandemics, racial injustice, natural disasters, wars, and political unrest.

2020, Robert West, chapter 1, in Stop Doomscrolling: How to Break the Cycle to Relieve Stress, Decrease Anxiety, and Regain Your Life, Annus Mirabilis Publishing:

“Why are you doomscrolling?” I ask. ¶ “I’m not doomscrolling.” Swipe, swipe...

2021, Jesse Gordon, “We’re All in This Together”, in El Cassetto, Cream-Colored Coffee Cup:

Keep a book in your bag to avoid the temptation to doomscroll.

2022 January 1, “100 ways to slightly improve your life without really trying”, in The Guardian:

(transitive, intransitive, social media, technology, neologism) To engage in the act of doomscrolling.


Omega variant

2021 November 11, Gwen Ackerman, “Israel Holds 'War Games' to Prepare for More Lethal Covid Strain”, in Bloomberg:

(neologism) A hypothetical, extremely virulent strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.


Zoomland

From Zoom + -land, popularized during the COVID-19 pandemic when the video teleconferencing software Zoom became an increasingly common way to communicate.

Fun times in zoom land. #arbonne #goals #dreamchaser #herewegomarch #bettertogether #nation #team #determined [inlcuded in the post is a photo of a computer screen displaying a Zoom meeting]

2017 March 1, Sara Lytle, Instagram, retrieved 2022-01-10:

"And now the kids are back in Zoom-land with classes. They're doing it remotely," she [Michelle Obama] said in September.

2020 October 23, Sandra Sobieraj Westfall, Virginia Chamlee, “The Obamas Share Rare Family Photo as Barack Says Sasha and Malia Have Bonded as 'Great Friends'”, in People, Meredith Corporation, archived from the original on 2020-12-01:

We had so much time when we were in Zoomland where we had to think, “Wait, why am I waking up and doing this again?”

2021 October 15, Jennifer Lu, “Workers quitting en masse is ‘a great thing,’ says workplace happiness expert—here’s why”, in CNBC, archived from the original on 2021-10-15:

(neologism) The proverbial place video teleconferences, particularly using the software Zoom, take place.


deltacron

(medicine, informal, neologism) A double infection of the Delta variant and Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

(medicine, informal, neologism) A recombinant form of SARS-CoV-2 resulting from Omicron and Delta


Herman Cain Award

en-noun

Herman Cain Award (plural Herman Cain Awards)

Named after American politician Herman Cain, who opposed coronavirus pandemic restrictions and died of COVID-19 after attending a rally without practicing the recommended safety precautions.

(informal, humorous, potentially offensive, neologism) A satirical award for people who died of COVID-19 after either disregarding recommended safety precautions or making statements regarding COVID-19 perceived to be misinformation.


vaxident

Blend of vaccine + incident or blend of vaccine + accident.

(medicine, slang, neologism) An unexpected medical incident occurring after the administration of a COVID vaccination.


malding

From mald + -ing, itself a blend of mad + bald. First cited usage of "mald" points back to November 2011 with an entry made on Urban Dictionary by user Yozaru. Became part of gaming culture in 2019 through the streamer Forsen, specifically referring to someone becoming so mad at a game they turn bald, either through stress or hair pulling.

So THAT's why I was malding when I lost -- or at least what I'll blame it on.

2020 September 16, Arda Ocal, “How Riot Games' board game Tellstones weaponizes memory”, in ESPN:

“XQc is malding in Among Us, a children’s fucking party game that no one gives a fuck about, crazy,” Tyler said.

2020 October 29, Ryan Galloway, “Tyler1 accuses xQc of view botting while they trade shots on stream”, in Dot Esports:

In his "hardest game" series he plays malding games, named for the rage they provoke in those who play them. […] The completion percentage of Pogostuck, an iconic malding game, is 1.5%, which makes for dozens of hours of carefully navigating a level interspersed with bouts of rage.

2021 May 24, Charlie Pugh, “The art of misery: how Ludwig made a career from failing”, in The Courier:

“I’m gonna say it: soccer is one of the most dogs**t sports to ever exist, it’s an embarassment^([sic]) to humankind. I said it, get mad,” xQc said after his opponent scored yet again. “Keep malding, and I want to make sure people understand: it is not ‘football,’ it’s soccer.”

2021 September 26, Bill Cooney, “xQc rage quits and uninstalls FIFA 22 after getting demolished in Ultimate Team”, in Dexerto.com:

(Internet slang, neologism, Twitch-speak) Angry about a game, especially on the part of a man who is a poor loser.

(Internet slang, neologism, by extension) Angry or irate.


girlboss

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The book also includes sidebars featuring guest “girlbosses” (bloggers, Internet entrepreneurs) who share equally clichéd suggestions for business success.

2014, review of #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso, Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2014, page 41

The girlboss didn't change the system; she thrived within it. Now that system is cracking, and so is this icon of millennial hustle.

2021, Leigh Stein, quoted in Arwa Mahdawi, Strong Female Lead: Lessons from Women in Power, unnumbered page

But viewers stanned girlbosses in every genre, from Parks and Recreation's idealistic bureaucrat Leslie Knope to Game of Thrones' colonizer Khaleesi, Daenerys Targaryen.

2021, Judy Berman, "What comes after the pop-culture girlboss", Time, 5 July 2021 - 12 July 2021, page 98

(neologism) A female entrepreneur who succeeds in the male-dominated business world; (by extension) any strong-willed, independent, enterprising woman.


birthing father

birthing father (plural birthing fathers)

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Riggs – who has served as an expert witness in a Queensland court case for a birthing father wanting to be recognised as such […] argues if someone is legally registered as a man, he should be able to claim the title “father”.

2020 October 9, “'Call me dad': Pregnant man takes birth drama to court”, in The Courier Mail:

For instance, compared with a cisgender nonbreastfeeding mother, breast cancer risk may be increased for a birthing father who feeds his infant artificial milk (due to the residual breast tissue and the lack of desire or ability to lactate), or decreased if he is able to partially lactate with the remaining mammary tissue.

2021, Melissa Bartick et al., "Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Position Statement and Guideline: Infant Feeding and Lactation-Related Language and Gender", Breastfeeding Medicine, Volume 16, Number 8 (link)

Mothers and birthing fathers usually have their postpartum checkup about six weeks after giving birth, Randall said, leaving them days or a few weeks to get care before their insurance lapses.

2021, Levi Pulkkinen, "2 Million Washingtonians Rely On A Medicaid System That’s Driving Away Doctors And Dropping New Mothers", InvestigateWest, 12 February 2021 (link)

(neologism) A trans man who has given birth to a child.


gestational father

gestational father (plural gestational fathers)

He [Cary Gabriel Costello] is the gestational father of a teenaged child, and is married to an intersex woman who was assigned male at birth—musician and technophile Aubrey Schaefer.

2016, “List of Contributors”, in Stefan Horlacher, editor, Transgender and Intersex: Theoretical, Practical, and Artistic Perspectives, page xi:

Most of the gestational fathers I talked to had already rejected gender norms, and it was this rejection that led them to imagine becoming gestational fathers in the first place.

2019, Laura V. Heston, "Queering Kinship: LGBTQ Parents And The Creation Of Real Utopias", dissertation submitted to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, page 180

He [Freddy McConnell] has publicized himself as a gestational father, for instance in a documentary film “Seahorse” (an upright-swimming fish, the male of which has a brood pouch for gestating its young).

2020 October, Bernard M. Dickens, “Transsexuality: Legal and ethical challenges”, in International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, volume 151, number 1, page 165:


grindset

on that sigma grindset

Turn that mindset into a grindset.

Their mindset is the grindset, and they love the grind. I used to have a sales manager who didn't think this way. On Fridays, he'd always say, “Happy Friday.” A lot of people feel that way, but I never liked that phrase because it[…]

2020 March 30, T.W. Lewis, Solid Ground: A Foundation For Winning In Work and In Life, T.W. Lewis, →ISBN:

(slang, neologism) A collection of thoughts and actions one may undertake to improve one's financial and social life and to stay on the 'grind'.


plague rat

Modern sense coined during the COVID-19 pandemic as a reference to rats being a common carrier of disease, possibly also looking at the role of rats in the Black Plague and influenced by the use of "rat" as a derogatory insult in general.

This Plague Rat is planning superspreader events across the country and complaining that he and all of his prosperity gospel pals are “under attack”.

2020 September 14, Ezra Lloyd, “Meet Sean Feucht: The Plague Rat Throwing ‘Worship Protests’ to Maskless Audiences Across The Country”, in Salt, archived from the original on 2022-02-04:

It’s a simple concept. You’re either contributing to humanity’s fight against this pestilence or you’re a plague rat. Don’t be a plague rat.

2021 July 23, Ed Hutcheson, “Letters: Take your medicine - Relearn the lessons of the 1600's”, in The Palm Beach Post:

People are waxing their surfboards, or whatever surf-people do, waxing their bodies, polishing up their summer reading lists, and googling sangria recipes: preparing to live their best plague-rat lives. This whole thing is crazy, and makes me uneasy.

2022 January 2, Joel Maxwell, “I won't, can't, go home this summer”, in Sunday Star-Times, Wellington, New Zealand, page 14:

(derogatory, neologism) Someone who refuses to follow anti-pandemic rules and guidelines or even takes actions, such as attending unnecessary events, that promote the spread of illness.


Coronatide

/kəˈɹəʊnəˌtaɪd/

From corona(virus) + -tide (suffix meaning ‘time’, denoting seasons), by analogy with liturgical seasons such as Christmastide and Eastertide.

suffix

Nowhere in the letter do the writers express a desire to know what is going on with the recipient; they do not wish to listen, learn, or truly befriend. They seem, above all, to want compliance. They want butts in pews, or at least the coronatide equivalent.

2020 July 10, Jana Riess, “If you want to win Latter-Day Saints back to the church, shame and fear are not how to do it”, in The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, Ut.: Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-12-31:

But Coronatide, as our extraordinary time has been dubbed, obliterated the usual sacred spaces and practices.

2020 August 12, David Gibson, “Jazz Vespers”, in Commonweal, volume 147, number 8, New York, N.Y.: Commonweal Foundation, published September 2020, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-21, page 64:

In this unsettling season of Coronatide we find ourselves beset by change, some welcome, some unwelcome.

2021, William Franklin, “Preface: Two Movements of the Past that Inform the Future”, in C[harles] Andrew Doyle, Embodied Liturgy: Virtual Reality and Liturgical Theology in Conversation, New York, N.Y.: Church Publishing, →ISBN, page xx:

Charles Butler's remarks in The Principles of Musik that "a Singing-man neede never fear the Astma, Peripneumonia, or Consumption: or any other like affections of that vital part: which ar the death of many students," seems particularly apt advice for the current Coronatide—an incentive perhaps for us all to sing more, even if we are stuck at home.

2021 spring–summer, Anna Lewton-Brain, “Katherine R. Larson, The Matter of Song in Early Modern England: Texts in and of the Air. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. xx + 245 pp. + 16 illus. + 14 tracks. $77. [book review]”, in Donald R. Dickson, editor, Seventeenth-Century News, volume 79, numbers 1 and 2, College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 30:

Coronatide made it hard to go an hour or two without snacking, but we’re past that now, and Mass is definitely not the place for the munchies.

2022 October 4, Katie Burke, “Ready for Mass: Churching like a pro”, in The Catholic Sun, Phoenix, Ariz.: Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-16:

(Christianity, neologism) The period of the COVID-19 pandemic.


Covidianism

(derogatory, neologism) Unquestioning support for the preventive measures recommended against the COVID-19 pandemic, such as social distancing and wearing a facemask.


COVIDtide

Alternative letter-case form of Covidtide.


Snovid

During Snovid, our entire neighborhood lost water and power, so we had to stay at our cousins' place for a week.

So, she created a t-shirt that says, “Proud member of the Snovid survival club.”

2021 February 26, Kendall Hogan, “Local custom t-shirt store selling shirts to raise money for local charities following winter storm”, in KBTX3, College Station, Texas:

With growth often comes the need for change, and MPR is no exception. Dalton Rice, the brand-new city manager as of February, came into the position right around the time of the Snovid disaster in Texas.

2021 August 3, admin, “Morgan’s Point city council approves ground storage tank for water”, in Belton Journal, Belton, Texas, archived from the original on 2022-02-07:

Last year’s February Snovid event has many Texans making extra preparations before this week’s winter storm.

2022 February 1, News Staff, “Governor Abbott Provides Update On State’s Response To Severe Winter Weather”, in Focus Daily News, DeSoto, Texas:

Phil got it right in 2021. I’m guessing Snovid was more than even he anticipated. The freeze of 2021 is still fresh on a lot of our minds.

2022 February 2, Tricia Potts, “Forget Phil’s frosty forecast, let’s have summer”, in Wharton Journal-Spectator, Wharton, Texas:

(informal, Texas, neologism) The February 13–17, 2021 North American winter storm that coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.


bad appling

(neologism) The practice of applying the qualities of a bad apple to an entire group in order to mischaracterize the group as a whole.


theyfriend

From they + friend, modeled after girlfriend and boyfriend.

She'd never had a boyfriend or girlfriend or theyfriend, not in her entire life.

2019 May 28, Talia Hibbert, The Roommate Risk, Tantor Media, Incorporated, →ISBN:

2021 October 21, Skeeter, “Janithor is my non-binary theyfriend”, in alt.slack (Usenet):

'Do you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend or a theyfriend?'

2022 January 18, Laura Silverman, Game On: 15 Stories of Wins, Losses, and Everything in Between, Penguin Young Readers Group, →ISBN, page 196:

(neologism) A non-binary partner in an unmarried romantic relationship.


pan-Covid

A pan-COVID vaccine gets ahead of the pathogen. Lineage-specific vaccines chase after it. Barton Haynes, an immunologist with Duke University’s Human Vaccine Institute, called the latter approach “whack-a-mole.”

2022 January 24, David Axe, “COVID’s Turbo-Mutation Is Killing This Vax Dream, So What’s Next?”, in The Daily Beast:

The pan-Covid jab is set to enter human trials within months.

2022 January 29, Jamie Walker, “‘Batman’ to the rescue with Covid immunity breakthrough”, in The Weekend Australian, Darwin, page 1:

Will changing variants require constantly updated vaccines or can a pan-COVID-19 vaccine be created?

2022 February 15, “A Future of Living With COVID-19: Defining the Known Unknowns”, in Contagion, Cranbury, NJ: MultiMedia Healthcare:

(neologism) Covering all strains of the COVID-19 virus.


Twosday

Blend of two + Tuesday. Analyzable as two + -s- + day

The deuces are wild today as one of the grandest palindromes of 2022 arrives on Tuesday, unofficially known as "Twosday."

2022 February 22, Jordan Mendoza, “It's 'Twosday!' No matter where you are in the world, today's palindrome date is the same”, in USA TODAY:

Good things come in twos. At least this Tuesday it does.
The date is February 22, 2022. When you write it, 2/22/22, it's a palindrome, meaning it reads the same forward and backward. It also falls on a Tuesday, which is now referred to as Twosday.

2022 February 22, Megan Marples, “Happy Twosday! Don't miss out celebrating the coolest date of the decade”, in CNN:

2/22/22 is a five-digit palindrome. It’s also made up of all twos and falls on a Tuesday, which some are calling Twosday.

2022 February 22, Joseph De Avila, “Twosday’s Many, Many (Too Many?) Twos”, in The Wall Street Journal:

The date of Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022 (2/22/22; 22-2-22)


Striketober

As we speak, thousands of workers are on strike. From nurses and healthcare workers to people who make cereal, tractors, and whiskey. And tens of thousands more have taken strike votes and are ready to join them if they can't reach agreements with their employers. It's a strike wave – we are calling it “Striketober.”

2021 October 21, Jesus Chuy Garcia, quotee, “Rep. Garcia Honors Workers Around the Nation During ‘Striketober’”, in Targeted News Service:

October 2021 was known as “Striketober” due to all the militant labor activity taking place around the country. As the month came to an end, Striketober turned into Strikevember, Strikesgiving and other strike-themed portmanteaus. The point is, the labor movement is not a fluke, and this resurgence continued even as 2021 came to a close.

2022 January 21, Nathan Wall, “Striketober didn't end, keep supporting striking workers”, in The Lawrentian, Lawrence University:

But as The Guardian reports, already familiar picket lines could become even more ubiquitous as a new “Striketober” looms in just a few days’ time, with Philadelphia museum workers providing some small sample of what’s to come.

2022 September 27, John L. Micek, “With Philly Art Museum walkout, has a new ‘Striketober’ come early to Pa.?”, in St. Joseph News-Press, St. Joseph, Mo.:

As organizing pushes sputtered at other companies, such as Amazon, and activists dubbed the fall of 2021 “Striketober,” the Starbucks campaign proceeded at a plodding, determined pace, and it went toe-to-toe with the chain's founder and interim chief executive Howard Schultz.

2022 November 18, Jacob Bogage, Lauren Kaori Gurley, “Starbucks employees walk out in a ‘Red Cup Rebellion’”, in The Washington Post, page A20:

(neologism) A series of strikes in October 2021 in the United States.


coronasomnia

Most of the information sleep experts have on coronasomnia is anecdotal, but there is plenty of it. And a report from the National Institutes of Health highlighted a study early in the pandemic that “revealed very high rates of clinically significant insomnia” along with more acute stress, anxiety and depression.

2020 September 23, “COVID-19 is wrecking our sleep with coronasomnia – tips to fight back”, in UC Davis Health, archived from the original on 2023-06-02:

It could be that 'Coronasomnia' provided the necessary nudge for people to be more intentional about sleep, so that their longer-term practice is now better.

2021, Steven P. MacGregor, The Daily Reset: 366 Nudges to Move Your Life Forward, Sheepdog Press, →ISBN, page 148:

You've probably heard of “coronasomnia” by now (and maybe even experienced it). The sleep problem, a clever combination of the words corona and insomnia, has become quite common in my clinic since mid-2020 […]

2023, Abhinav Singh, Sleep to Heal: 7 Simple Steps to Better Sleep, Humanix Books, →ISBN, page 115:

(informal, neologism) Insomnia resulting from stress or anxiety brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.