Are you wearing a face mask? 

I have always been passionate about words and new verbal codes and how they become a trend over a period of time.

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Since the pandemic began, we have been exposed to a new vocabulary we have been adopting in our day-to-day. I am Mexican and my native language is Spanish, However I was in Paris and the United Kingdom when it all started.  With that being said, I have been exposed to three different cultures and languages and with that I would love to share the different perspectives of this thought  period or new era. 

If you are curious about traveling through words across different countries and vocabulary, you can continue reading and have some fun. 

 

The language transformation

There are moments in history when many new terms are added to a language and 2020 was not an  exception. After all, we are part of globalization and we are more hyper connected than ever to the digital world.

We are constantly using and adding new words that are also known as neologisms. The first word that struck the world was “virus”, then was followed by  COVID-19, to refer to coronavirus. Those words are a great example to connect the similarities across languages and countries in a time period.

We all were exposed to different changes and we had to adapt to new measures that generated a new vocabulary across the world. Analyzing 3 different cultures you  can find many similarities and differences  across the languages and words.   

Find below the similar vocabulary across the different countries. When I discovered the similarities, it made me feel united to other cultures and the feeling of fighting together through this problem.

Spanish	English	French
Coronavirus	Coronavirus	Coronavirus
Cuarentena	Quarantine	Quarantaine
Confinamiento	Lockdown	Confinement
Distanciamiento social	Social distancing	Distanciation sociale
Cubre Bocas	Face mask	Mask
Toque de queda	Curfew	Couvre-feu
Antibacterial	Sanitizer	Désinfectant
Cierre de fronteras	Borders closure	Fermeture de la frontière
Pandemia	Pandemic	Pandémie

Once you read the words, you will discover the power of words and how they have helped to understand the pandemic, no matter the language.

On the other hand, there are words that were inserted depending on the government rules of each country. I will tell you below.

 

France

France was one of the first countries in Europe to develop drastic measures against COVID-19.  The president, Emmanuel Macron, set a range of rules that brought different concepts and vocabulary to the people of France, such as:

Word	Meaning
Attestation	The paper that you have to bring with you to prove you were leaving home only for essentials.
Amande	The payment for not wearing a mask.

 

England

In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was more relaxed  and continuously changed lockdown restrictions and dates. We started to familiarize with different concepts, such as:

Word	Meaning
Tier	To refer to different levels of risks during the pandemic to establish new rules.
Heroes	This term was introduced to refer to doctors from the NHS.
NHS	It refers to the Government-funded medical and health care services that everyone living in the UK can use without being asked to pay the full cost of the service.

 

Mexico

And last, Mexico, which has been highly criticized for the measures implemented by the current administration. Here in Mexico, the rules have been completely different from France and England, and the vocabulary that has been adopted is even linked to culture, with a bit of the humor that characterizes the Latin market:

Word	Meaning
Semáforo	“Traffic lights” as a concept to indicate the risk level in each area.
Covicho	To refer to the virus in with sense of humor.
Susana Distancia	To refer to social distancing with sense of humor.

 

Te voice of hope

As I mentioned before, we have adopted many new words to our vocabulary that  have impacted emotionally. However, there is one that will join us again with hope and happiness, that word is “vaccine”. A powerful word that is not quite that different among languages. 

Tell us about other words we have been adopted and how you feel in your daily life and as marketers and brand consultants. How will we be adopting this vocabulary to connect with our audiences?

 

References:

Burgos Raquel, (2019). How the COVID-19 pandemic changed language. Language wire. Taken from: https://www.languagewire.com/en/blog/how-the-covid-19-pandemic-changed-language