‘Lockdown’ is Collins Dictionary’s word of the year

In its unique hyphenated avatar, the phrase meant a chunk of wooden used to nail items of a raft collectively.

In the 1970s, it’s believed that the jail programs of some US states gave it a which means near its present one — limiting inmates to their cells, particularly within the wake of or to stop violence.

On Sunday, it was named the phrase of the yr 2020 by Collins English Dictionary.

The phrase? Lockdown.

The phrase, which, in its present context means measures carried out by governments world wide to limit motion of individuals to mitigate the unfold of the coronavirus illness, Covid-19, was chosen for its “unifying experience for billions” and for being one which “sums up the year” for most individuals.

The dictionary defines lockdown as “the imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction, and access to public spaces”.

“Our lexicographers chose lockdown as Word of the Year because it is a unifying experience for billions of people across the world, who have had, collectively, to play their part in combating the spread of COVID-19,” Collins mentioned.

“Lockdown has affected the way we work, study, shop, and socialise. With many countries entering a second lockdown, it is not a word of the year to celebrate but it is, perhaps, one that sums up the year for most of the world,” she mentioned. The dictionary mentioned it registered over 1 / 4 of 1,000,000 usages of the phrase throughout 2020, towards solely 4,000 the earlier yr.

Several different phrases associated to the pandemic are included in Collins’s checklist of the highest 10 phrases of the yr: “furlough” — the apply of briefly shedding staff — and “self-isolate”. The phrase “coronavirus” options within the checklist too, with a unprecedented 35,000-fold improve in use year-on-year. But social impacts – the modifications to behavior and the human lifestyle – dominate the checklist for the yr. “The restrictions placed on how we move about and interact with one another arguably had the most impact,” Collins notes.

Interestingly, the dictionary factors out that 2020 was not all in regards to the pandemic. “Megxit”, or Prince Harry and actor Meghan Meghan’s resolution to face down as members of the UK royal household, was among the many prime phrases of the yr. Anti-racism motion Black Lives Matter was one of many different key phrases, as was “mukbang” , the Korean phrase that refers to a video or webcast through which the host noisily eats a big amount of meals for the leisure of viewers.

There’s no explaining tastes.

(With inputs from PTI)