Most used words in 2020

Last year, a common but highly used little word – they – got an accolade of its own when language mavens over at Merriam-Webster declared it as the word of the year. That decision was based on a 313% increase in the number of searches on the company’s search website (Merriam-Webster.com), compared to 2018.

This year, Merriam-Webster hasn’t yet revealed the word of the year 2020, though several bookies have several favorites for punters to wager on. Terms related to the current global pandemic seem to dominate the futures betting market, though they face stern completion from several other terms. Here are some of the top picks.

Covid-19 (-155)

The Merriam-Webster dictionary started monitoring corona-related words earlier in January, when the news first came from China. The team of about 20 definers and editors updated their database a few months later, with Covid-19 being one of the words that spiked in searches as soon as the update was announced on Twitter.

To date, the term has over five billion search results on Google, and it’s regularly used in headlines all over the world. Additionally, the word has quickly become part of our daily lexicon, though it was only coined a few months ago. As such, Covid-19 is poised to be the Merriam-Webster word of the year 2020 despite its grim associations.

Social Distancing (+200)

That has become a common phrase in the world, as people and governments try to contain the Coronavirus and minimize casualties. However, if this two-word phrase took the accolade this year, it would be the first time that happened. Nonetheless, that’s not entirely impossible, considering “-ism” won in 2015.

Coronavirus (+200)

A general term that refers to a larger family of single-stranded RNA viruses, Coronavirus has spikes in searches over the last three months. The word barely registered months ago, despite being related to previous epidemics like MERS and SARS. However, the word has over 2.6 trillion search results today.

Covidiot (+400)

This popular portmanteau describing people who fail to observe the set health and safety measures is regularly used in daily conversations. A literal example is where a covidiot explains that he cut a hole in his mask to make it easier to smoke a cigarette without taking it off.

Self-Quarantine (+400)

This phrase explains the concept of staying at home away from everyone else when coronavirus symptoms are noted. These symptoms may include high temperature, a persistent dry cough, and tiredness. In such a case, patients are advised to self-quarantine for 14 days to avoid spreading the disease to those around them.

Pandemic (+500)

At +500 odds, this looks like a solid bet. The world has faced several pandemics over the last 50 years, but none of them has shaken the society to this extent. The ongoing pandemic has crashed the global economy, killed thousands of people and greatly disrupted the daily lives of almost everyone in the world. Covid-19 is probably the greatest global health threat since the Spanish Flu of 1918.