Global Language Monitor Announces That ‘Covid’ is the Top Word of 2020

Global Language Monitor Announces That ‘Covid’ is the Top Word of 2020 (Top 50 #WOTY Ranked)

AUSTIN, Texas,

July 6, 2020 (Newswire.com)

Global Language Monitor (GLM), the data research company that documents, analyzes, and tracks trends in language usage worldwide, has announced that Covid is the Top Word of 2020 in its mid-year update.

“It’s no surprise that ‘covid’ has risen to the top of the rankings,” said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst of GLM. “However, ‘covid’ has received the highest number of citations ever recorded in our global survey. In fact, ‘covid’ has outranked all previous Words of the Year in the 21st century by a factor of 100, or more.”

Covid is the commonly used shorthand for the shorthand for Covid-19. Covid-19 is the official name of the virus caused by the SARS CoV-2 virus, so named in WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

Covid-19 is ranked No. 2 on GLM’s mid-year update. The Top Ten Words of the Year (#WOTY) for 2020 include Covid, Covid-19, Coronavirus, Corona, Face mask, Progress, Truth, Social Distancing, Trade War, and Sustainability.

Top Words of the Year of 2020 (#WOTY2020) mid-year update follow (Rank, Word, Definition/Comment).

Please Note: Typically, the Global Language Monitor publishes the Top Twenty Words in its rankings. In this #WOTY2020 mid-year update, for the historical record, we are extending the published rankings to the Top Fifty.

Global Language Monitor
Top Words of 2020 for Global English (Mid-year Update
Rank	Word	Definition
1	Covid	The shorthand for Covid-19 has the largest number of citations ever recorded in the 21st century.
2	Covid-19	The name of the virus caused by the SARS CoV-2 by WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
3	Coronavirus	SARS-CoV-2 full name of virus that causes Covied-19.
4	Corona	From the Latin for ‘crown’. Compare the Sun’s corona during a total eclipse.
5	Face mask	A face covering that helps halt the spread of Covid-19 to varying degrees depending on the material and number of layers.
6	Progress	The belief that society moves ever towards betterment
7	Truth	The idea that there is an objective, discernible reality for humans to discover and cherish.
8	Social Distancing	The distance individuals should keep from each other to lessen risk of virus transmission, usually about 2 meters or six feet.
9	Trade War	Colossal struggle between US and China with worldwide repercussions.
10	Sustainability	Creating an environment that supplies certain needs without comprmising future production.
11	Flatten the Curve	The ability to manage the number of case so as to not overwhelm the hospital system.
12	Lockdown	Restricting movement outside home or district.
13	Identity Politics	Politics based on certain elements of one’s makeup, such as skin color or ethic background, or gender.
14	Progressives	The word ‘liberal’ outlived its usefulness as the description of one’s political leanings.
15	Zoom	Group meetings held over videoconferencing channels.
16	Quarantine	Restricting physical movements to one’s home or institution, often separated from all others.
17	Migrants	People moving from one nation to another.
18	Donald Trump	Donald J. Trump, the 46th president of the US.
19	Symptoms	Physical conditions that may signify the presence of a virus or illness.
20	Outbreak	The seemingly sudden appearance of a disease in a community or geographic location.
21	CDC	The Centers fo Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia.
22	Conservatives	Political philosophy that favors saving the best from the past while moving toward the future.
23	Unemployment	Highest unemployment numbers the US has seen since the Great Recession — and possibly the Depression.
24	Climate Change	Climate change has ranked in the Top Ten for the last dozen years or so.
25	Hand Sanitizer	Washing one’s hands with an anti-bacterial soap for thirty seconds is a strong barrier against Covid-19.
26	White Privilege	Supposed advantages carried by Whites by virture of their ethnic heritage.
27	The Pandemic	Current global pandemic precipitated by SARS-CoV-2.
28	The Virus	Shorthand for Covid-19.
29	Work at Home	The result of social distancing guidelines where employees must stay separated from each other.
30	Stimulus	Massive $3 trillion+ funding effort by the US Federal Government to help keep families (and the economy) afloat.
31	George Floyd	George Floyd, a black American, was killed by a police officer kneeling on his neck for some eight minutes in Minneapolis. His death sparked global protests.
32	Black Lives Matter	A movement protesting police brutality against African-Americans.
33	Woke	The state of suddenly becoming aware of social injustices in the society.
34	Joe Biden	Presumptive presidential nominee of the Democrat Party against President Trump.
35	Wuhan	Largest city in Central China, capital of Hubei Province, population 11,000,000; original epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak.
36	WHO	WHO – World Health Organization was established in 1948 by the United Nations as the agency overseeing international public health.
37	Disinfectant	A chemical agent that kills bacteria.
38	New Normal	The new reality of the pandemic-ravaged world.
38	MAGA	Campaign slogan of President Trump in 2016.
39	Fake News	Packaged news, planted sources, one-sided exposes, party lines, and official narratives are a new phenomenon only to those with no sense of history.
40	Shelter-in-place	Being confined to one’s home or institution to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
41	Nancy Pelosi	The Speaker of the House of Representatives; the highest ranked Democratic office holder.
42	Self Isolate	Quarantined for a minimum of 14 days after being exposed to Covid-19 to help stop the spread of the virus.
43	Dr. Anthony Fauci	Dr. Anthony Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
44	“I Can’t Breathe”	The last words uttered by George Floyd as he lay dying at the hands of Minneapolis police.
45	Essential Workers	Those workers who perform ‘essential’ tasks during the coronavirus pandemic, most notably in healthcare, food production and distribution, and the service sector.
46	Wet Market	Outdoor markets that offer recently slaughtered meat, fish and poultry; sometimes including live animals.
47	Impeach Trump	The Trump impeachment effort ended with a vote of acquittal on February 5, 2020, just as the pandemic was taking off in the US,
48	Defund Police	A movement to re-focus police departments to social welfare duties.
49	Super Spreader	A single person or event that propagates ‘clusters’ of the outbreak. Some 20% of infected super spreaders could be responsible for 80% of viral transmission.
50	Dr. Deborah Birx	Dr. Deborah Birx is the Coronavirus Response Coordinator, White House Coronavirus Task Force.
The Global Language Monitor

Typically, the Global Language Monitor ranks words, phrases, and names on three separate lists, and the lists are limited to 20 items. For this effort, GLM has combined the lists and extended the word count to 50 items.

Global Language Monitor began recording the Top Words of the Year in 2000 to document the history of the 21st Century through the English language, the world’s first truly global language. The words are culled throughout the English-speaking world, which as of January 2018 ranks more than 2.58 billion speakers. Global Language Monitor employs its NarrativeTracker technologies for global internet and social media analysis.

NarrativeTracker is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture about any topic, at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the internet, blogosphere, and the top 300,000 print and electronic global media as well as new social media sources as they emerge.

In addition, the Global Language Monitor has also tracked the Top Words, Phrases and Names of the 21st Century.

More information about these and the company can be found at Languagemonitor.com.

About Global Language Monitor

Based in Austin, Texas, the Global Language Monitor collectively documents, analyzes and tracks trends in language usage worldwide, with a particular emphasis upon the English language. The company is known for its Word of the Year, political analysis, college and university rankings, high-tech buzzwords, and media analytics. For more information, visit Languagemonitor.com.

Media Contact:

Paul JJ Payack
info@languagemonitor.com

pjjp@post.Harvard.edu

1 737.215.7750

Source: Global Language Monitor

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Categories: International News, General Interest

Tags: 2020, data research, Global Language Monitor, language, Top Words of the Year, trending, trends, WOTY2020

December 12, 2018June 2, 2020

Intro to “Word of the Year” Phenomenon

Paul JJ Payack’s Brief Intro to the WOTY Phenomenon

Click to Play

WOTY W0TY WOTY WOTY WOTY

March 8, 2017May 14, 2018

Kate Middletons Social Media Star to Eclipse Princess Diana

Study also compares Michelle Obama with the Royals

NarrativeTracker analysis of Internet, social and traditional media

AUSTIN, Texas. April 18, 2011. With less than two weeks left before the Royal Wedding on April 29th, Kate Middleton is already posting Diana-type numbers in terms of news worthiness and celebrity status on the Top Global Media sites as well as on the Internet and Social Media according to The Global Language Monitor. Previously GLM had found the soon-to-be Princess Catherine the Top Fashion Buzzword of the 2011 season, replacing the eccentric Lady Gaga.

The GLM study compared the citations of Kate Middleton with those of Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry, and Camilla Parker Bowles. Michelle Obama as First Lady of the United States was included as a relevant American comparison. For the Top Global Media, the citations were measured over the last three months as well as all the archives available.

???Kate Middleton is set to eclipse Princess Di as the media star of the Royal Family,??? said Paul JJ Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst of the Global Language Monitor. ???In fact, Kate could surpass all Internet, Social Media, and Global Print and Electronic Media citations by the time the Royal Wedding-related stories are compiled.???

Two weeks before the Royal Wedding, Middletons Internet and Social Media citations, surpass all members of the Royal Family. Prince William comes in as a close second followed by Princess Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997.

For Internet news citations, Middleton follows only Prince William and Prince Charles. For comparison, First Lady Michelle Obama, since she first came to notice in 2004, would rank No. 3 in Internet and Social Media citations, just ahead of Princess Diana and would rank No 4, again slightly ahead of Princess Diana in Internet news.

In the traditional Global Print and Electronic Media, Prince William and his bride-to-be, both double references to Queen Elizabeth and quadruple those to Prince Charles who would also follow Michelle Obama.

Note: Princess Di is cited in hundreds of thousands of news stories even though she died before Google, social media, and smartphones existed. Even without the current media environment where the Internet, social media, and the traditional media feed upon themselves as some sort cyber echo chamber, the study demonstrates the enduring legacy of Princess some fourteen years after her death.

GLM used NarrativeTracker Technology in this study.

NarrativeTracker is based on the global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture of what any audience is saying about any topic, at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, the top global print, and electronic media, as well as new social media sources (such as Twitter).

Media for detailed statistics, call 001.512.801.6823 or email GLM.

Tags: Camilla Parker Bowles, Fashion, First Lady, Kate Middleton, Michelle Obama, NarrativeTracker, Prince Harry, Prince William, Princess Di, Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth, Royal Wedding, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter

June 24, 2010November 27, 2017

How Obama lost control of the oil-spill narrative

WORD OF MOUTH: Colleen Ross

Colleen Ross

The usual key to staying on top in the murky world of politics is to control the narrative. And, by all linguistic accounts, Barack Obama’s control of the oil spill narrative has slipped away.

Lonely warrior. Barack Obama counting tar balls on a Louisiana beach in May 2010. (Larry Downing/Reuters)

Lonely warrior. Barack Obama counting tar balls on a Louisiana beach in May 2010. (Larry Downing/Reuters)

In his first prime-time address from the Oval Office recently, Obama attempted to take back the reins by employing warrior-like language.

In his best Churchill impression, he spoke about “the battle we’re waging against an oil spill that is assaulting our shores and our citizens,” going on to vow that “we will fight this spill with everything we’ve got for as long as it takes.”

The president then talked about creating a battle plan as well as the need to develop energy independence and to “fight for the America we want for our children.”

Click Here to Listen to Colleen Ross’ Podcasts

The president then talked about creating a battle plan as well as the need to develop energy independence and to “fight for the America we want for our children.”

In fact, Obama’s rhetoric around America’s biggest environmental disaster has intensified in recent weeks.

Accused of not being angry enough at the company that has still not managed to fully plug a gushing oil well, “No Drama” Obama, as he was once known, is using tougher language and framing the oil spill as an environmental 9/11.

He also uttered the now oft-quoted explanation of why he’s spending so much time talking to experts: So he can “know whose ass to kick.”

Oil-spill enabler

But in this unfolding drama, with a wavering protagonist, a motley crew of characters and a slick, unrelenting enemy, one is compelled to shout in frustration: “Words, words, words!”

Duelling narratives

(An unscientific, comparison)

BP: Use remotely operated underwater vehicles to try to reactivate blowout preventer.

Political narrative: Remotely control response, i.e. let Coast Guard handle it.

BP: Introduce small tube into burst pipe to slow flow.

Political narrative: Introduce oil spill commission and temporarily stop offshore drilling

BP: Drill relief wells, this is going to take awhile.

Political narrative: Drill home the need for relief/compensation (this is going to take awhile)

Therein lies the problem, says language analyst Paul Payack. Words alone mean nothing if they are not backed up by action and, as a result, Obama has lost control of what he wants to say.

“He who wins control of the narrative controls the story in terms of political capital,” says Payack. And at the moment, Obama isn’t doing so well, which could hurt his party in the November mid-term elections.

According to Payack, the most important storyline currently defining the president is “Obama as oil spill enabler.”

May 12, 2010November 28, 2017

NarrativeTracker Analysis Reveals Top Buzzwords in Healthcare Narrative

Top Buzzwords: Rationing, Out-of-control Spending, Price Controls, Non-sustainable, and Mandate Failure

Dallas and Austin, Texas, May 13, 2010 — In what could presage mounting difficulties for the national healthcare reform roll-out, the top buzzwords associated with the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform ‘narrative’ have been found to be Rationing, Out-of-control-spending, Price Controls, Non-sustainable, and Mandate Failure. In addition, Gaming the System was the key underlying trend that was discovered. The results of the Healthcare NarrativeTracker Index™ (NTI™) were reported earlier today by The Global Language Monitor, the media analytics company, and OpenConnect, an innovator in defining and improving process efficiency.

The NTI focused on the unfolding narrative about the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Law since it is frequently cited as a model for the national legislation. The analysis was performed to better understand and help clarify the national healthcare reform discourse.

“There is a very good possibility that what we are learning from the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform can be applied directly to the national healthcare reform act,” said Edward ML Peters, CEO of OpenConnect, “And what we are seeing there is a perfect storm of ‘rationing’, out-of-control ‘spending’, ‘price controls’ and ‘unsustainability’ — that have now moved to the forefront of the Massachusetts discussion.”

The top concerns from the on-going narrative concerning Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Law in the immediate aftermath of “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” being signed into law include:

1. Rationing – Along with related keywords (allocation, etc.) was a strong No.1

2. Spending Increase – References involving increased spending up 400% for the year

3. Price Controls — A growing concern; up 1400% for the year

4. Non-sustainable – Scored 40% higher than ‘sustainable’

5. Mandate Failure – Experiencing a sustained rise

The NarrativeTracker also found these key underlying trends (nTracker Arc) that are foundational to the main narrative.

1. The question of quality is supplanted by the issue of ‘fairness’ with fairness being driven by the ‘gaming the system’ arc.

2. Gaming has come to the fore with stories of individuals abusing (or outsmarting) the system by signing up for healthcare only when a medical procedure is looming. (In this scenario, the average cost of a month of coverage is $600 while the procedures average about $10,000.)

3. The mentions of ‘failure’ with the keyword ‘reform’ have been rising steeply, some 240% in the last 60 days.

The analysis was completed in early May 2010.

The NarrativeTracker Index is the first product specifically designed to use social media-based monitoring to better understand the issues driving healthcare reform. Because the Healthcare NTI is based on the national discourse, it provides a real-time, accurate picture of what the public is saying about any topic related to healthcare, at any point in time. In addition to the NTI, the nTracker Arc™ follows the rise and fall of sub-stories within the main narrative to provide a comprehensive overview of the opinions surrounding a single issue.

The ‘narrative’ refers to the stream of public opinion captured by blogs and other social media outlets on the Internet. The rise of the narrative actually renders positions on the issues almost meaningless, since positions now matter less than how they fit into a particular narrative.

The NTI is based on the GLM’s Predictive Quantities Indicator™ (PQI™). The PQI tracks the frequency of words and phrases in global print and electronic media on the Internet, throughout the Blogosphere and other social media outlets as well as accessing proprietary databases. The PQI is a weighted index that factors in long-term trends, short-term changes, momentum, and velocity.

The Healthcare NTI will be released on a monthly basis beginning Thursday, May 13, 2010. The first analysis details the various narratives surrounding Massachusetts Healthcare reform, a healthcare model which has been adopted in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as the national healthcare reform bill.

For more information, call 1.512.901.8836, send email to pauljjpayack@gmail.com, or visit www.LanguageMonitor.com.