COVID Glossary of Terms (And Their Old Meanings)

So many words and terms in our lexicon have changed meaning because of COVID.  Here is a rundown of these words and terms, and what they mean and once meant:

contact tracing:

NEW MEANING: a method to find people you know, one of whom may have given you COVID

OLD MEANING: a method to find the source of a phone call made by someone wanted by the authorities 

droplet:

NEW MEANING: a speckle of saliva that may have the virus after it's breathed out

OLD MEANING: a speckle of water in a drizzling rain

"flatten the curve":

NEW MEANING: to get the rate of COVID infections down

OLD MEANING: to fix a warped piece of wood

herd immunity:

NEW MEANING: the point at which enough people are vaccinated or have antibodies against COVID that the virus can be controlled and stopped from continuing the pandemic

OLD MEANING: the point where your cows can't give each other foot-and-mouth disease 

lockdown:

NEW MEANING: a condition in which everyone is forced to stay home to avoid catching COVID

OLD MEANING: a critical condition in which every inmate in a prison is kept in a cell without access to the prison's various inmate facilities

mask: 

NEW MEANING: a cloth covering for the nose and mouth designed to prevent people with COVID, particularly those without symptoms, from giving the virus to someone else

OLD MEANING: something you wear to rob a bank or conceal your identity at a costume party

remote learning:

NEW MEANING: learning in school from another location via the Internet

OLD MEANING:  how to work a TV set

socially distant:

NEW MEANING: staying six feet apart from everyone else to prevent oneself from catching to infect with COVID

OLD MEANING: being in your own little world without talking to the people right next to you

spread:

NEW MEANING: the progress of the virus to increase infections

OLD MEANING: a buffet with a big selection 

test:

NEW MEANING: a procedure to see if you have COVID 

OLD MEANING: an exam in school

transmission:

NEW MEANING: How the virus is spread

OLD MEANING:  the gearbox in your car; also, a TV or radio broadcast

virtual attendance:

NEW MEANING: being there remotely

OLD MEANING:  being there, but not quite completely there

Zoom: 

NEW MEANING: an Internet service designed to allow you to attend a meeting virtually

OLD MEANING: a children's TV show from the 1970s

And:

variant:

NEW MEANING: an evolution of the COVID virus that is usually more contagious and more deadly than the original virus, which may be resistant to COVID vaccines and treatments and likely differs from the original by a positioning of a spike protein, usually originating in and associated with associated with geographic locations such as Britain, South Africa, Brazil and Manhattan 

OLD MEANING: a German station wagon

The new normal sucks. 😠 😩