We've had to learn a bunch of new vocabulary words during the outbreak. And Merriam-Webster just added more of them to their online dictionary.
They already added a bunch back in March, including "COVID-19" . . . "social distancing" . . . and "community spread." Here are ten new ones they just added . . .
1. "Self-isolate" . . . to isolate or separate oneself from others.
2. "Physical distancing" . . . the practice of maintaining a greater than usual distance between yourself and others.
3. "Contactless" . . . not involving contact. Like contactless delivery.
4. "WFH" . . . it stands for "working from home."
5. "PPE" . . . or personal protective equipment.
6. "Forehead thermometer" . . . which we've all seen now.
7. "Intensivist" . . . a doctor who specializes in intensive care.
8. "Epidemic curve" . . . a.k.a. the curve we've been trying to flatten.
9. "Herd immunity" . . . when a significant proportion of the population has become immune.
10. "Iatrophobia" (eye-ah-truh-FO-bee-uh). . . an intense fear of doctors. They also added hundreds of words that AREN'T linked to the outbreak. Including "deepfake" . . . "dark web" . . . "truthiness" . . . and the slang term "thirsty."