However, it’s now widespread and accepted, although medically imprecise, to use virus to refer to the viral disease it causes. Technically, a virus is the agent that causes an illness, not the illness. The removal of the register label informal may seem small, but it’s significant. Previously, our second sense of virus, “a viral disease,” was labeled as informal.
And the realities and experiences of this condition prompted a new entry for long hauler in tandem with an overhaul to our definitions at long haul to account for their expanded, pathological senses.Ī person who experiences symptoms or health problems that linger or first appear after supposed recovery from an associated acute illness or active infection.ĬOVID also contributed to changes to the very DNA-or RNA-of the word virus. Long COVID now has an entry in the dictionary. While the pandemic is no longer always top of our national mind and headlines (even as we remain vigilant about its variants), its impact on our lives, and language, is long-lasting-and literally so. Jump right into our quiz on our new words and definitions if you’re ready! Continuing COVID coverage And as always, we like to make learning fun while we’re at it. From informative usage notes to in-depth articles to our Grammar Coach ™ and Dictionary Academy ™, we also strive to educate on why and how language changes-changes we know can be challenging. On the heels of our spring 2021 update, our indefatigable crew of lexicographers have touched over 1,200 entries, including:Īcross and, our mission is not only to stay on top of a restless English language by documenting and defining its changing vocabulary. Slang and pop culture have yielded a host of terms and expressions in this update-and some welcome fun after a trying past year. It reflects the evolving landscape-and language-of COVID-19, racial reckoning, social struggles, and the unstoppable charge of technological change.īut it also reveals our boundless creativity and ingenuity. The latest update to mirrors, as ever, the world around us.
By Heather Bonikowski, Lexicographer, and John Kelly, Managing Editor
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