FILE PHOTO: A nurse prepares a syringe with Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre for Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Wednesday, August 11, 2021 Allison Joyce/Dhaka Tribune
Tribune Desk
Publish : 01 Nov 2021, 02:51 PMUpdate : 01 Nov 2021, 02:51 PM
The Oxford English Dictionary has chosen ‘vax’ as the word of the year given that the usage of the shortened term for vaccine rose by 72 times.
After deciding last year that it was impossible to sum up 2020 in one word, the company that produces the Oxford English Dictionary said the shorthand for vaccine had “injected itself into the bloodstream of the English language,” reports The Guardian.
Other words related to vaccination have also been broadened into a wider range of context.
“When reviewing the language evidence, vax stood out as an obvious choice. The word’s dramatic spike in usage caught our attention first. Then we ran the analysis and a story started to emerge, revealing how vax sat at the centre of our preoccupations this year,” Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl told The Guardian.
“The evidence was everywhere, from dating apps (vax 4 vax) and pent-up frustrations (hot vax summer) to academic calendars (vaxx to school) and bureaucratic operations (vax pass). In monopolising our discourse, it’s clear the language of vaccines is changing how we talk – and think – about public health, community and ourselves,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr Mercedes Durham, a reader in sociolinguistics at Cardiff University, says that ‘vax’ being chosen as word of the year made sense due to its adaptability.
“The word itself, to me it almost has a meme quality. With a meme you take the picture and add things, words, on to it. In some ways you take ‘vax’ and add ‘passport’ or ‘anti’ or ‘double’ and because it’s such a short word you can add different things on to it,” she told The Guardian.
She added that it’s not surprising as people have spent more time than ever in thinking about vaccines.
The Oxford Languages tracked the rise of vaccine vocabulary and found the usage of “vaccine distribution” to become common in 2020 while “vaccine rollout” and “vaccine passport” became common by March this year.
Analysts at Oxford Language also found that the ‘jab,’ popularly used in the US and becoming widely used in Britain.
Meanwhile, ‘jag’ is a more frequently used term for a vaccine shot in Scotland. Words such as anti-vax or anti vanxxers have also gained popularity to describe those who are against vaccination.
The Oxford Language also found that “vacina” was heard 10 times more in Portugal and the French “vaccin” now almost exclusively refers to the Covid inoculation.
The dictionary publisher assessed the frequency of usage by studying news content from around the world and observed that for a single topic to become such a critical part of everyday communication in such a short period of term is quite rare.
‘Vax’ is Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year
The Oxford English Dictionary has chosen ‘vax’ as the word of the year given that the usage of the shortened term for vaccine rose by 72 times.
After deciding last year that it was impossible to sum up 2020 in one word, the company that produces the Oxford English Dictionary said the shorthand for vaccine had “injected itself into the bloodstream of the English language,” reports The Guardian.
Other words related to vaccination have also been broadened into a wider range of context.
“When reviewing the language evidence, vax stood out as an obvious choice. The word’s dramatic spike in usage caught our attention first. Then we ran the analysis and a story started to emerge, revealing how vax sat at the centre of our preoccupations this year,” Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl told The Guardian.
“The evidence was everywhere, from dating apps (vax 4 vax) and pent-up frustrations (hot vax summer) to academic calendars (vaxx to school) and bureaucratic operations (vax pass). In monopolising our discourse, it’s clear the language of vaccines is changing how we talk – and think – about public health, community and ourselves,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr Mercedes Durham, a reader in sociolinguistics at Cardiff University, says that ‘vax’ being chosen as word of the year made sense due to its adaptability.
“The word itself, to me it almost has a meme quality. With a meme you take the picture and add things, words, on to it. In some ways you take ‘vax’ and add ‘passport’ or ‘anti’ or ‘double’ and because it’s such a short word you can add different things on to it,” she told The Guardian.
She added that it’s not surprising as people have spent more time than ever in thinking about vaccines.
The Oxford Languages tracked the rise of vaccine vocabulary and found the usage of “vaccine distribution” to become common in 2020 while “vaccine rollout” and “vaccine passport” became common by March this year.
Analysts at Oxford Language also found that the ‘jab,’ popularly used in the US and becoming widely used in Britain.
Meanwhile, ‘jag’ is a more frequently used term for a vaccine shot in Scotland. Words such as anti-vax or anti vanxxers have also gained popularity to describe those who are against vaccination.
The Oxford Language also found that “vacina” was heard 10 times more in Portugal and the French “vaccin” now almost exclusively refers to the Covid inoculation.
The dictionary publisher assessed the frequency of usage by studying news content from around the world and observed that for a single topic to become such a critical part of everyday communication in such a short period of term is quite rare.