Every year, the Swedish Language Council, Språkrådet – a department within Institute of Language and Folklore, publishes a list of new words that have entered the Swedish language and is being actively used by the general public. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the words on the list this year include words related to the pandemic.
According to the Institute of Languages and Folklore, it is normal for technical terms to become a part of the everyday language among the general population during a crisis.
Anders Svensson, Editor-in-Chief at Språktidningen says: “Many of these words have been established since long in technical language. During the corona pandemic, a long list of medical terms suddenly became part of the everyday language. That is why they are considered new words for the general public.”
The 2020 list consists of 39 new words, but we saved you the trouble and picked out some of the more exciting ones:
boomer
a middle-aged, or older, person
cancelkultur
activism aimed at depriving people with controversial views of their platforms for expressing those views
coronaanpassa
to take preventive measures to comply with restrictions aimed at minimizing the risk of spreading the coronavirus
coronahälsning
a gesture of greeting that was made popular during the corona pandemic
hobbyepidemiolog
a person, who without expert knowledge in epidemiology, confidently speaks about the corona pandemic
infodemi
the global spreads of harmful rumors
simp
a person who, through flattery, tries to arouse another person’s romantic or sexual interest
novent
Christmas preperations and Advent-like celebrations in November
superspridare
a person who spreads a disease to a large number of people
turistkorridor
an agreement that enables holiday travel between countries where the spread of infection are at low levels
Zoombombning
intrusion by uninvited participants in a meeting held through the video conferencing service Zoom
To see the rest of the words featured on the list, visit Nyordslistan 2020 here.
