“Lockdown” has been named as the Collins Dictionary Word Of The Year 2020 at a time when dozens of previously uncommon words have become everyday because of coronavirus.
Defining lockdown as “the imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction, and access to public spaces” the dictionary said it added the term because it “encapsulates the shared experience of billions of people who have had to restrict their daily lives in order to contain the virus”.
Collins’s lexicographers registered over a quarter of a million usages of lockdown during 2020, against only 4,000 the previous year.
The annual 10-strong list of additions is dominated by words and phrases relating to the pandemic, including furlough (permission to leave your duties for a period of time), key worker, self-isolate and social distancing.
Coronavirus itself also features.
Key worker has seen a 60-fold increase in usage reflecting the importance attributed to professions considered to be essential to society.
source : sky news
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