2020 needs its own dictionary

By Nancy Black

Twenty-twenty. Two little words that have changed all of our lives forever. There have been so many words or phrases in 2020, which we had never heard before, or whose use has taken on a new significance, that now eerily represent the year we’ve just experienced with just their mention. 

These are the words or phrases that stand out to me as I review 2020 in my mind from the beginning to almost the end of the year:

Australian Bush Fires. Kobe Bryant. Presidential impeachment. Harvey Weinstein. Wuhan. China. Virus. Fifteen cases. Flight restrictions. COVID-19. Coronavirus. Pandemic. Airborne. W.H.O. PPE. Wear a mask. N95. Aerosol droplets. Fifteen Days to Slow the Spread. Flatten the curve. Shelter in place. Shutdown. Hand sanitizer. Lysol. Disinfectant. Toilet paper. Hoarding. Baking bread. Pajamas. Plexiglass shields. Grocery delivery. Curbside pickup. Outdoor seating. Coronavirus Task Force. Daily briefings. ICU bed capacity. Ventilators. Wash your hands. Social distancing. Stay six feet apart. Pulse Oximeter. Hospitalizations. Sense of taste. Quarantine, Zoom. Remote learning. Online classes. Rapid test. Contact tracing. Netflix. Streaming. Tiger King. Joe Exotic. Carole Baskin. Anthony Fauci. Lockdown. Daily COVID numbers rising. Defense Production Act. Operation Warp Speed. Health care workers. Front line workers. Freezer truck morgues. Ghislaine Maxwell. Murder hornets. Safer at home. George Floyd. Protests. Riots. BLM. Antifa. No justice, No peace. Gassing protestors. Bible photo opp. Curfews. Vanessa Guillén.Fort Hood. Sexual harassment. Dismembered. Breoona Taylor. No knock warrants. Defund the police. California wildfires. Oregon wildfires. West Coast on fire. AQI. Hurricanes with Greek letter names. Chadwick Boseman. Temperature checks. Walter Reed Medical Center. Alien DNA doctor. Marine One. Ruth Bader Ginsberg. John Lewis. Biden vs. Trump. QAnon. Basement. Rallies. Super spreader events. Kamala Harris. First ever. Debates. A fly. A mute button. Eddie Van Halen. Mail-in ballots. Registered voters. Amy Coney Barrett. Election Week. Maricopa County. Declared winner. Refusing to concede. Conspiracy theories. Assault on democracy. Lawsuits. Rudy Giuliani. Dripping hair dye. Poll workers. Voting machines. Farts. Certifying elections. Security briefings. Pfizer. Moderna. AstraZeneca. Vaccines. Efficacy. Roll out. 

There are two and a half weeks left in 2020. I wonder how many other new words or phrases will become part of our lives before this year comes to a close. But I already know what my favorite will be — “It’s 2021 tomorrow!” 

Here’s to it!