[ad_1]
The year isn’t over yet, but we already know the word that defines it, according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. The result is a “pandemic”. Peter Sokolowski, the editor-in-chief of the publication, announced this Monday to the Associated Press (AP), saying, among other data, that he searches for this word in the place on 11 March, the day the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic – they were 115.806% higher than searches recorded on the same date in 2019.
“It’s probably not a big surprise,” acknowledges Peter Sokolowskim quoted by the AP, adding that “often the news in the main news has a technical term associated with it, but in this case, the word ‘pandemic’ is not only technical but has become common. “. “It is probably the word we will use to refer to this period in the future,” he added. That or any other similar word or expression that brings us to the terrible year of 2020.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary manager, the word “pandemic“ has caught the attention of a large number of people since March, when the WHO declared the novel coronavirus infection as a global public health emergency – but it started to rise in place Merriam-Webster.com in early January and continued through February.
Pandemic, rooted in Greek, is a combination of “pan” for all or everyone and “demo” for people. The latter is, incidentally, the very root of “democracy”, explained Peter Sokolowskim. And who looked up that word in the dictionary? There was, of course, research done by those who did not know the meaning of the word, says the editor-in-chief, but also by those who just wanted to know more details about the word or even by those who sought some sort of “inspiration or comfort” in its meaning.
Dictionary searches reflect what is happening in people’s lives. So, it is to be expected, for example, that on Valentine’s Day there will be a spike in demand for the meaning of the word “love“, observes Peter Sokolowskim, who justifies that dictionaries often end up being “the starting point for putting ideas in order”.
In response to increased demand, Merriam-Webster responded by increasing supply. In March, the word “pandemic” was enriched with new voices and details. In the same logic, the dictionary added in February to the old term “coronavirus“ the new name of the disease “covid-19”.
Among the strongest candidates for the word of the year were other terms related to this public health emergency that has affected the whole world, such as coronavirus, quarantine or asymptomatic. Hence, the list also included words associated with specific moments such as the death of an acquaintance or sporting events that experienced a spike in demand at certain times. OR place Merriam-Webster’s dictionary has approximately 40 million monthly users and approximately 100 million page views each month.
.
[ad_2]
Source link
