Some new words have been added to English vocabularies recently. Here begins a list you can add to in comments below.
1. covidence (covid+evidence) = cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell.
2. “Coldvidence.” (cold+evidence) = “My cough is just a symptom of the common cold, seasonal allergies, summer flu, bronchitis, lung cancer, etc.”
3. coedvidence (coed+covid+evidence) = alarming symptoms 14 days after new roommate moves in.
4. coronavoidance (corona+avoidance) = taking precautions to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Not to be confused with its homonym, listed next.
5. coronavoidense (corona+avoidance+dense) = impervious to warnings re disease transmission.
6. covidential (covid+confidential) = a private chat between a medical statistician and her superior.
7. coronavidity (corona+avidity) = consuming greed for toilet paper, face masks, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, antibacterial hand soap, etc.
8. “We got this COVID!” = Small business codespeak for “All surfaces sanitized, masks covering nose and mouth, gloves on: Unlock the doors!”
9. covident (covid+confident) = feeling confidence as one heads to the store with all protective gear in place.
10. covidant (covid+confidant) = a male with whom one shares one’s weekly shopping narratives.
11. covidante (covid+confidante) = a female with whom one shares one’s weekly shopping narratives.
12. covignette (covid+vignette) = a grocery manager’s personal journal entry.
13. covidiosyncrasy (covid+idiosyncrasy) = a puzzling innovation in using protective gear, as a man wearing his medical mask below his nose when shopping.
14. coromoron (corona+moron) = a maskless middle-aged man clutching groceries who says “Excuse me” as he whips around corners during seniors-only hours at the supermarket.
15. covidiot (covid+idiot) = one who believes a conspiracy theory about COVID-19.
16. covincidentidiot (covid+coincident+idiot) = one who believes several conflicting COVID-19 conspiracy theories at the same time.
17. covigilance (covid+vigilance) = keeping an eye on other walkers, joggers and bikers, as well as motor vehicles, when out for one’s daily exercise, in order to maintain a safe distance from all.
18. covigilante (covid+vigilante) = a volunteer who patrols a public park or shopping district, calling out those who are maskless or crowding others.
19. covidiscipline (covid+discipline) = a parenting practice whereby two parents take three children riding scooters on a safe socially-distanced walk in their neighborhood.
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Kathryn Ann Hill is the founder of Slithy Toves Word-a-Day Society, a Facebook group. Her six volumes of poetry are briefly described at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/kah1952