A glossary of coronaspeak

1. Discuss the questions.

• How has your life changed because of the coronavirus pandemic?
• Do you know any new words that have been coined or gained popularity
during the pandemic (in your language or English)?

2. Look at the headings in the table and guess what the BCV and ACV
acronyms mean.
BCV
• A handshake was a common
greeting used by people around the
world.
• We worked closely and were using
Skype for remote meetings.
• Going to school for kids as well as
for teachers was unquestionable.
• For a lot of people, Friday night
started with choosing an outfit for
the evening.
• People worked and earned money
for travelling and spending holidays
away from home.
• The tourism industry was thriving,
with some destinations
overwhelmed with tourists.
ACV
a) Now, even political leaders greet
each other with a ……….. bump or
an ……….. bump.
b) Most meetings are held online and
we are all ……….. now rather than
Skyping.
c) As kids learn remotely, parents are
lured by hotels and the opportunity
of ……….. .
d) Everyone is excited to wear their
new ……….. and watch Netflix all
night long.
e) If you work remotely and can’t go
to your office, you can become a
……….. -tourist, travelling to a
different country and working from
there.
f) The hotel and tourism industry
hope for a wave of ……….. travel
in the future – people travelling
more than usual as a reaction to
the time they couldn’t do it.

3. Now, complete the gaps in ex. 2 with one word each.

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 A glossary of coronaspeak

4. Discuss the questions.

• How do you greet people now,
instead of shaking hands?
• Do you Zoom or Skype people?
• What’s your favourite ‘infit’? Do you
miss going out?
• If you had the chance, would you
become a ‘half-tourist’?
• What do you think about the idea of ‘schoolcation’?
• Do you think that ‘revenge travel’ will become a thing and some people will
travel more than in the past when they are finally able to do so?

5. Study the example. Work in pairs and figure out which words they are
derived from.

EXAMPLE:
QUARANTINI = quarantine + Martini: a cocktail drunk during lockdown

a) zumping = ………… + ………… : ……………………………………

b) lockstalgia = ………… + ………… : ……………………………………

c) covidiot = ………… + ………… : ……………………………………

d) quarantime = ………… + ………… : ……………………………………

e) spendemic = ………… + ………… : ……………………………………

6. Read the words in ex. 5 again and guess what they mean.

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 A glossary of coronaspeak

7. Look at the words below and guess how they combine.

a) ………………. = Zoom + wear: clothes suitable for the office above the waist
and casual clothing below the waist
b) ………………. = information + epidemic: the spread of incorrect information,
especially online, about something, e.g. a disease
c) ………………. = coronavirus + millennial: a child conceived or born during the
COVID-19 pandemic
d) ………………. = mask + acne: acne caused by wearing a face mask that
wraps tightly around the face for a long time

8. Discuss the questions.

• Have you observed ‘infodemic’, ‘spendemic’ or any other new phenomena
during the pandemic?
• Do you think you will ever feel ‘lockstalgia’?
• What activities have a lot of people turned to during lockdowns?
• Do you work from home now? What dress code do you have to follow? How
often do you choose ‘Zoomwear’?
• In your opinion, will our lives ever be the same as BCV? Why/Why not?

9. HOMEWORK. Do some online research and find five more words or phrases
that have been coined or gained popularity during the pandemic. Write
sentences with them.
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….

Copyrights by ESL Brains