Did you keep a list of the words coined by Covid? Wayne Grady did!
They're deftly woven into a journal/timeline, taking us through two
years of surrealism and limbo.--Margaret Atwood
This exploration of the many new terms of the Covid-19 pandemic
provides insight into the ways an ever-evolving vocabulary helped us
cope with our anxiety and adapt to a new reality.
When the pandemic struck in early 2020, Wayne Grady started collecting
the words and phrases that arose from our shared global experience.
Some, such as "uptick" and "pivot," had existed before but now took on
new meaning, and others, such as "covidivorce," "quarantini," "covexit,"
and "shecession," appeared for the first time, their meaning instantly
clear. Through this new vocabulary, we became more able to adapt to
change, to domesticate it in a sense, and to reduce our fears.
Moving from the very beginning of the pandemic (the "Before Times") and
our early response to it through the peaks and troughs of the various
waves in countries throughout the world, and ending with a contemplation
of what the "After Times" might look like, this book takes us on a
journey through the pandemic and illuminates both how this new language
has unfolded and how it has changed the way we think about ourselves and
each other.