Armchair doctors unite as top three words for 2020 announced

South Africa’s words of the year for 2020 have been announced by the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), in association with Focal Points. 

The board explained that the shortlisted words or expressions aim to reflect the past year in language, and capture “the ethos, mood or preoccupation of 2020”.

With the Covid-19 pandemic gripping the entire world, it was unsurprising that two of the three shortlisted words had to do with the virus, and the other involved a viral dance performed around the world during lockdown. 

The top three words for 2020 are: 

• Covid-19;
• Jerusalema; and
• Lockdown.

The following words were also considered: 

• Corruption;
• Normalise; and
• Self-isolation.

The PanSALB will announce the winning word on Friday, which coincides with International Dictionary Day. 

 “As the world faces a pandemic and a lot of uncertainty, the tenacity of the human spirit has never been more evident,” said PanSALB acting chief executive officer Willie Manana. 

“Language has been at the centre of our response to the pandemic as words such as ‘quarantine’ ‘pandemic’ ‘lockdown’ suddenly became part of our everyday vocabulary.” 

(Compiled by Nica Richards)

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