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)

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

 

 

 

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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Coronavirus Calendar: TrendTopper Institute

CoronaVirus Calendar

GLM has created a which is based on published findings in the journal Lancet and the University of Hong Kong. We have created our own unpublished algorithm based on the official releases of China’s National Health Commission in which the numbers are much lower but still are cause for alarm. #china 

Analysis:

 

Question: Who Missed the Emergence of the Coronavirus?

Answer: The Administration (including Congress), Academia, and the Media

See CoronaGeddon: Words of the Pandemic You Need to Know

The Early Stages of the Pandemic from The Lancet. with Data from HKUS&T

See The Coronavirus Calendar Here

The potential for a global pandemic of historic proportions was in plain sight for the administration, academia, and the global media to see in January and February.

Back in January, the Global Language Monitor, the data research company,  created a data model of the expansion of the newly discovered n-coronavirus in Wuhan, China.   (You can see this on the LanguageMonitor (dot) com site.)

The numbers were truly frightening, so frightening that I decided not to publish my findings until I could find a respected research study that mirrored my numbers and projections. I found one, published in The Lancet medical journal in the UK, that used data from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUS&T).   The Lancet created a number of graphics that illustrated the impending nightmare that you can see on our site.

The key to HKS&T’s data is that it assumes a much larger base to start from (rather than China’s official count). I then created the Coronavirus Calendar that I published about six or seven weeks ago, the main point of which was that the virus doubles every six days or so, with an infection rate of 2.63 with a mortality rate of about .02.  (The mortality rate has been a bit lower over the last few weeks but is actually higher in Iran and Italy.) GLM distributed this study to the worldwide media. 

Update: China Did Not Count 43,000 Asymptomatic Cases

Though I created the Coronavirus Calendar, I am still shocked at how quickly it is moving. (For California, that’s 39 million * .6 * .02%.) If you extrapolate these numbers for your community, state, region or nation, you can see the horrifying conclusions.

This is not to say, of course, that this result is inevitable.  There is still much that can be done by the concerted efforts of the global institutions — and the very real fact that many pandemics in the past have actually burned themselves out.

Paul JJ Payack
President
The Global Language Monitor
Austin, Texas

Words of the Pandemic

This explainer will be expanded continuously as information on the Type A H1N1 Flu Pandemic becomes available.

Media Alert:  If you need a customized version of this explainer, please call +1.512.801.6823.

These are the technical definitions of the phases and the Planned US Federal Government response.

Term                                            Definition

20th Century Pandemics

1917 Pandemic — La Gripe Espanola or the “Spanish Flu”.   50 million or more died in the 1918 pandemic, up to 200,000 in the US.  Some 30% of the world’s population of 1.5 billion were infected.

1957 Pandemic —  The “Asian Flu”  originated in China.  It had two major waves killing some 2 million people.

1968 Pandemic —  The “Hong Kong Flu” spread globally for two years resulting in about  1 million deaths.

1976 faux Pandemic — First identified at Ft. Dix, NJ in a new recruit, the pandemic never unfolded.  The massive US immunization program resulted in about 500 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological condition that can be fatal.  About fifty deaths were reported.

CDC  —  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Located in Atlanta, Georgia, the CDC is part of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Close Contact – One meter (about three feet) is often cited by infection control professionals to define close contact (based on studies of respiratory infections); for practical purposes, this distance may range up to 2 meters (six feet).  The World Health Organization says approximately one meter; the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidlelines state within 6 feet”.

Epidemic —  A disease occurring suddenly in humans in a community, region or country in numbers clearly in excess of normal.

Facemask — A disposable mask cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as a medical device.   Facemasks have several designs.  Held in place two ties, conforms to the face with the aid of a flexible adjustment for the nose bridge, and may be flat/pleated or duck-billed in shape; pre-molded, attached a single elastic band, and has a flexible adjustment for the nose bridge; and flat/pleated and attached  with ear loops. Facemasks cleared by the FDA for use as medical devices have been determined to have specific levels of protection from penetration of blood and body fluids.

Ground Zero  —  The location where the first case occurred.  The earliest confirmed case of the influenz A H1N1 has been traced to the village of La Gloria in Veracruz, Mexico located south east of Mexico City.

H1N1 — See Influenza A H1N1.

Influenza —  A serious disease caused by viruses that infects the upper respiratory tract.

(Electron Microscope image of Influenza A H1N1 virus.)

Influenza A (H1N1) — The official name of what is commonly but inaccurately called ‘swine flu”.  The strain consists of four elements, one human, one avian, and two swine.  The World Health Organization began using this nomenclature on April 30, 2009.

Influenza Pandemic —  A global outbreak of a new influenza ‘A’ virus that is easily transmitted from person-to-person worldwide.

Mutating Virus —  In general, any flu virus mutates and evolves mechanisms that enable it to escape the immune defence systems of its victims.

Pandemic —  The global outbreak of a disease in humans in numbers clearly in excess of normal.

Pandemic Phases —  WHO has divided pandemics into six phases.  (See Figure above.)

Pandemic Phase 1  —  Low risk of human cases.  No viruses circulating among animals have been reported to cause infections in humans.

Pandemic Phase 2  —  Higher risk of human cases.  An animal influenza virus circulating among domesticated or wild animals is known to have caused infection in humans, and is therefore considered a potential pandemic threat.

Pandemic Phase 3 —  No or very limited human-to-human transmission.  An animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus has caused sporadic cases or small clusters of disease in people, but has not resulted in human-to-human transmission sufficient to sustain community-level outbreaks. Limited human-to-human transmission may occur under some circumstances, for example, when there is close contact between an infected person and an unprotected caregiver. However, limited transmission under such restricted circumstances does not indicate that the virus has gained the level of transmissibility among humans necessary to cause a pandemic.

Pandemic Phase 4  —  Evidence of increased human-to-human transmission.  Human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus able to cause “community-level outbreaks.” The ability to cause sustained disease outbreaks in a community marks a significant upwards shift in the risk for a pandemic. Any country that suspects or has verified such an event should urgently consult with WHO so that the situation can be jointly assessed and a decision made by the affected country if implementation of a rapid pandemic containment operation is warranted. Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic.

Pandemic Phase 5 — Evidence of significant human-to-human transmission.  Human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region (Figure 4). While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.

Pandemic Phase 6   —   Efficient and sustained human-to-human transmission. The pandemic phase  is characterized by community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region in addition to the criteria defined in Phase 5. Designation of this phase will indicate that a global pandemic is under way.  [Editor’s Note:  According to these stated criteria, the pandemic phase has already reached pandemic phase 6 on April 30, 2009.]

Respirator — Refers to an N95 or higher filtering facepiece respirator certified by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

rRT-PCR Swine Flu Panel diagnostic  test – A tool used to diagnose swine flu cases locally, thus speeding up the confirmation process.

Spanish Flu    —    Another name for the 1918 flu pandemic or La Gripe Espanola.

Swine Flu    —    Commonly used shorthand name for influenza A (H1N1) Symptoms — Body aches, fever, headaches, sore throat, body pain, chills and fatigue, and sometimes diarrhea and vomiting.

Tamiflu and Relenza   —   In response to the request from CDC, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration , in has issued Emergency Use Authorizations  for the use of Relenza and Tamiflu antiviral products.   Tamiflu has been stockpiled by Homeland Security in the US. For optimum efficacy, infected individuals should take it as early as possible.  It lessens the symptoms but is not a cure for Swine Flu.

WHO — Located in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Health Organization, is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system.

 

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