There's a Word For That! Language in the Pandemic Age

From: CNN Newsletter, "What Matters" by Zachary B. Wolf, May 4, 2020.

 Dutch-born anthropologist Harald Prins wrote to point out the effect coronavirus has already had on his native language:

It appears, not surprisingly, that Covid-19 related neologisms are rampant in the Netherlands (and probably in most if not all other languages, too). I doubt most will survive but some will, albeit with unsuspected accretions.

In Dutch, for example, few realize that a popular word like "klerevent" (difficult to translate, but equivalent to bastard or rotten fellow) derives from cholera (klere).

Here are some Dutch corona neologisms with my free translations (but several terms resonate in a unique social-cultural way in the Netherlands)

Huidhonger / skin hunger: a longing for human contact while in isolation

Anderhalvemetereconomie / six-feet-economy: an economy constructed to avoid spreading coronavirus

Hoestschaamte / cough-shame: the anxiety one may experience about possibly triggering a panic among the people nearby when making a coughing sound for whatever reason

Coronahufter / coronajerk: shopper at a supermarket or store who violates the six-foot social distance prescription or other safe-keeping protocol. 

Druppelcontact / spray-contact: exchange of little droplets when sneezing or coughing, esp. as source of infection

Onthamsteren / dehoarding: processing long-stored shelf-stable food into a meal. 

Straatschaamte / street-shame: the embarrassment someone experiences when being out for urgently necessary errands during lockdown

Toogviroloog / blather-virologist: dilettante who spreads false or unsubstantiated information about the virus, its transmission, or its treatment

A new Dutch corona lexicon was created and is updated. It already comprises 700 new words, including those noted above.