How COVID’s ‘pandexicon’ changed the way we speak—and think

Things were different in the “before times.” Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we weren’t all experts in viral variants or polymerase chain reaction tests. We’d never heard of “vaccine apartheid” or “social distancing.” No one drank “quarantinis” after enduring a “covidivorce.” And “self-isolating” and “lockdowns” were things to be avoided. In his new book Pandexicon, author Wayne Grady has chronicled the words that emerged from the COVID-19 catastrophe to decode the message and meaning behind them. He joins host Brian Lilley this week to discuss what our viral vocabulary says about who we are. And how the pandemic has indelibly changed us all in the “after times.” (Recorded July 25, 2023)

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices