Health
Pando, Miss Rona and Covid Toe: how the language of a disease develops – shaped by fear and prejudice – The Guardian
Deadly outbreaks always lead to a new vocabulary, as people search for ways to understand a growing threat. And while some of the new words are merely descriptive, others have ugly underpinnings
We now have a name for the disease. These were the words of the director of the World Health Organization (WHO) in a historic announcement on 11 February 2020. Back then, there had only been 393 cases of a mysterious new respiratory illness outside China, and in most places life continued as normal. Covid-19. Ill spell it: C-O-V-I-D hyphen one nine, he continued. Little did we know that this oddly technical-sounding phrase would become not just a household name, but an era-defining one.
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