Anti-maskers, n., pl. | Definition: People who refuse to wear a mask or who believe they should not be required to wear a mask to engage in civil society. “The anti-maskers think it is unreasonable that they should be asked to wear a mask before entering a store.”

Maskhole...

Covidiot, n. | Definition: Mashup of “COVID” and “idiot.” An epithet usually used to describe (or shame) either a person who doesn’t believe the coronavirus is a real thing, or a person who puts others at risk by flouting COVID safety protocols. Example: “You and your fellow Covi...

Emaskulation, n. | Definition: A mental condition experienced by some adolescents and adults, primarily male-identified, characterized by the delusion that taking steps to limit the transmission of COVID-19 (e.g., wearing a mask, social distancing) will diminish their strength, v...

Hand distinction(system), n. | Definition: The act of designating one hand (or finger, in which case we call it “finger distinction”) to touch “outside,” potentially coronavirus-infected surfaces when you’re in public. Generally, one hand is designated the “touching hand” and the...

Maskne, n. | Definition: Acne resulting from excessive mask-wearing — often occurs if mask has not been laundered or switched out enough."Skincare companies should start making products dedicated to maskne"

— S.L.

Masky-matchy, adj. | Definit...

Pandemic pet, n. | A dog, cat, bird, hamster or other cute pet similar to the thousands of animals that people acquired after the pandemic emptied offices and stay-home orders resulted in people working from home for months. “The run on people going out to get pandemic pets e...

Going out, v. | a historical term that in the Before Times used to mean to carry on a regular romantic or sexual relationship. Now seldom used because with the advent of Covid the only welcome definition of 'going out' is to be able to leave the home. "He was going out with m...

Quaranteen, n. | Definition: Young people who have spent some part of their teenage years in lockdown or quarantine (see: “quarantine”) during the pandemic. Used by adults in a plaintive manner; used by quaranteens with an air of bragging about how much harder they’ve had it than...

Real pants, outdoor pants, human pants, n. | Pants that are made of any rigid, binding material such as denim or khaki, that we once wore every day in the Before Times and no longer remember why. The opposite of soft pants: forgiving, loosefitting garments in unobstructive knits,...

The ’Rona, n. | Yet another colloquial term for the terrible coronavirus. Example: “Send Jack a get well soon text.I heard he's got the 'Rona”

Socially distanced meetup, n. | An outdoor date or hangout where you and one other person or a small group of frie...

Superspreader, n. | Person or event who, or that, through negligence, triggers a COVID-19 outbreak. “Bob’s Thanksgiving dinner became a superspreader event when batty Aunt Barb brought her entire book club and everyone shared food and no one wore masks! Now they all have COVI...

Zoom, n. | The company that provides a video conferencing platform. It zoomed — pun fully intended! — into public consciousness as the coronavirus pandemic forced the aforementioned hordes of office workers into work-from-home mode in March 2020. To be used as a verb or noun, ak...

Before Times, n. | Definition: Denotes a time before the coronavirus pandemic and multiple crises: attempted insurrections, civil rights movements and climate crises — that have piled on since the pandemic began. “Remember back in the Before Times when we used to just casuall...

Herd Immunity, n. | According to the World Health Organization, it "is the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection." It is also known as population immunity. 

"Peo...

Quarantini, n.| A mashup of "quarantine" and "martini," this is any cocktail you mix at home  instead of going out to a bar. It's a word that also showed up on a lot of restaurants' new takeout menus in places where to-go cocktails be...