Exploring the language of coronavirus

Up until now, the UK has been in a cosy era when the word ‘viral’ implied nothing more sinister than a video viewed by a lot of people. A ‘virus’ was something much more likely to infect your computer than your loved ones. 

Now all that’s changed, fast.

As coronavirus has spread, a wave of new vocabulary has followed as we attempt to understand the outbreak and deal with it as far as we can. 

Tackle vs. cope

How much control do we think we have? Are we tacking the virus, or coping with it? Certain politicians keen to appear in control continue to refer to ‘tackling’ the virus, while the more pragmatic are suggesting that we will have to ‘cope’. According to Google Trends, searches for ‘tackle coronavirus’ enjoyed a couple of brief spikes in the second half of February. By the end of February the two terms were level pegging. But ‘cope with coronavirus’ spiked on 6th March and since then ‘cope’ has begun to overtake ‘tackle’ in terms of how we think we’re dealing with coronavirus.

Less-than-human language

Earlier today, I googled ‘uk quarantine rules’ and the first thing that came up was an article about bringing animals into the UK. So far, so dehumanising. And then there’s the concept of ‘herd immunity’ which Boris Johnson referenced in his speech on 14th March. It may well be the correct scientific term for a population becoming resistance to a disease when enough members of the population are immune to it. But the word ‘herd’ has the unfortunate side effect of making it sound as though the Prime Minister sees HIS citizens as a collection of cattle. This surely contributed to the unpopularity of the approach.

Moving apart: self-isolating and social distancing

These two are both very niche terms that have now become part of our everyday vocabulary. Now you hear people saying, “Oh, they’re socially distancing” or, “I can’t come, I’m self-isolating” as naturally as they would say, “I’m staying in”. They both imply individual responsibility and considered choice, the words ‘self’ and ‘social’ softening the blow of isolation and distance that will in themselves have a profound effect on the country.

 The words ‘self’ and ‘social’ softening the blow of isolation and distance that will in themselves have a profound effect on the country.

Forcing apart: ban, containment, lock down 

A quick glance at certain media outlets and these words jump out at you everywhere you look. They’re dramatic, draconian and admittedly attention grabbing. They focus on people’s movement and freedom being forcibly restricted by others and take away any sense of empowerment or sense of purpose which ‘self-isolation’ and ‘social distancing’ imply.

Increasing intensity: crisis, peak and panic

As the number of confirmed cases increases, the language around Coronavirus is increasing in intensity too. Even as we’re being told not to panic, we’re panic buying pasta and loo roll. We’re in the midst of a public health crisis, and we’re reminded that the situation is reaching crisis point. We’ve all become swiftly familiar with ‘the peak’ – the point at which we’ll be dealing with the highest number of cases – and with all the talk of broadening, flattening and holding back the peak, it’s starting to sound as though The Peak itself is a monster in a disaster movie.

Fighting spirit

While troops haven’t yet been deployed in the UK, the media and politicians are already deploying whole squadrons of militaristic vocabulary. We’re dealing with an outbreak.  But is it the outbreak of a disease or the outbreak of a war? For Health Secretary Matt Hancock, it they seem to be one and the same. He has said that, “We will stop at nothing to fight this virus,” and “We must fight the disease to protect life,” as well as commenting that the elderly will be “shielded for their own protection”. NHS staff have been put “on a war footing” and there’s been a “call to arms” for manufacturers. Mentions of the ‘Blitz spirit’ are cropping up in every other article, and I suspect this bombardment of military language will only increase.

Coronavirus is terrifying, and this kind of epidemic is unprecedented in the UK. But the cooperation of UK citizens is going to have a significant effect on our ability to contain and treat the virus, so the people in power need to give thought to the language they use and how they’re framing the conversation around coronavirus.