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In Pandemic， Word Definitions Shift and New Lexicon Emerges

Matt Sedensky 馬特·塞登斯基

Newscasts bring word of “hot zones” and “l(fā)ockdowns.” Conversations are littered with talk of “quarantines” and “isolation.” Leaders urge “social distancing” and “sheltering in place” and “flattening the curve.”

In an instant， our vocabulary has changed - just like everything else.

Now， those turning to online dictionaries are parsing the difference between epidemics and pandemics， ventilators and respirators， seeking some black-and-white answers in the face of total uncertainty.

“Words matter，” says John Kelly， a senior research editor at Dictionary.com. “They provide comfort and order amid chaos. They provide solidarity in an age of social distancing.”

A look at the fast-evolving lexicon of the coronavirus pandemic:

WARTIME METAPHORS

Trump is now touting himself as “a wartime president” leading the fight against the virus. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is equating ventilators to “missiles” in the battle. French President Emmanuel Macron has bluntly declared: “We are at war.”

Around the world， words typically used in relation to nuclear fallout， active shooters， deadly storms and war are now being deployed to discuss disease.

John Baugh， a linguist at Washington University in St. Louis， says doctors are desperate to shake the public to attention， using metaphors they think can convey the seriousness of the problem. Politicians may be doing the same - or may be trying to capitalize on catastrophe.

SHIFTING DEFINITIONS

As the virus gripped China， onlookers saw a “l(fā)ockdown” at the outbreak's epicenter of Wuhan. As COVID-19 moved west，though， the meaning of such terms has morphed， and leaders' definitions of disaster jargon has been as varied as the public's interpretations.

Cuomo created a “containment zone” in New Rochelle last week. The phrase conjured images of mass quarantine even as businesses remained open and people were free to come and go.

Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have subsequently aired different messages on the possibility of more severe restrictions in the biggest American city， with the mayor urging residents to prepare to “shelter in place” and the governor criticizing the idea and the language. Cuomo has dismissed “shelter in place” as a relic of the Atomic Age.

“People are using different terms somewhat interchangeably，” said Dr. Irwin Redlener， an expert on disaster preparedness and public health at Columbia University. The tug-of-war over terminology echoes the patchwork of measures that state and local governments have taken， he said.

VIRUS VOCABULARY

Kathleen Hall Jamieson cringes when scientists toss out statements of “morbidity” and “mortality” in the same breath， when public officials warn of “asymptomatic” people posing a threat， and when news conferences are peppered with words like “vector” and “transmission.”

“They are incomprehensible to many in the public，” said the University of Pennsylvania communications expert.

“Public health officials，” she said， “need to translate their technical language into intelligible language.”

That means saying something like “not showing any symptoms” instead of “asymptomatic，” using simple verbs like “spread” versus “transmit，” and opting for the clarity of “hand-washing” over “hygiene.”

But Hall Jamieson marvels at how Dr. Anthony Fauci and others have managed to get the public to grasp a complicated medical concept with the phrase “flattening the curve，” often accompanied by visual hand cues.

And many see “social distancing” to be the greatest pandemic-era addition to the vernacular yet - easily understood phrasing that's helped communicate to millions that they need to keep a safe berth to avoid spreading the virus.

新聞節(jié)目中蹦出“熱點(diǎn)地區(qū)”“封鎖”等詞語。交談中充斥著“檢疫隔離”“隔離”等字眼。領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人們力勸“拉開社交距離”“就地防護(hù)”和“拉平曲線”。

一轉(zhuǎn)眼，我們的詞匯表就這樣改變了，一如其他的一切。

現(xiàn)在，那些查閱網(wǎng)絡(luò)詞典的人們正在分辨流行病與大流行病、呼吸機(jī)和人工呼吸器的區(qū)別，面對(duì)無常世事力求找到一些黑白分明的答案。

詞典網(wǎng)站的高級(jí)研究編輯約翰·凱利說：“字字千鈞。它們于混亂中帶來慰藉和秩序，在社交疏離的時(shí)代給予相互支持。”

且看新冠肺炎大流行病期間快速演變的用詞：

戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)比喻

特朗普現(xiàn)在自詡為領(lǐng)導(dǎo)抗擊病毒的“戰(zhàn)時(shí)總統(tǒng)”。紐約州州長(zhǎng)安德魯·科莫將呼吸機(jī)等同于戰(zhàn)斗中的“導(dǎo)彈”。法國(guó)總統(tǒng)埃馬紐埃爾·馬克龍?jiān)�直言不諱地宣稱：“我們?cè)诖蛘獭！?/FONT>