Terminology - WOTTIES 2021 - "vax" OED Word of the Year

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) selected the term "vax", short for vaccine, as the 2021 Word Of The Year (WOTY). The term vax not only increased frequency of usage by 72% compared to 2019, vaxxes no doubt saved humanity from extinction during the COVID 19 pandemic. Indeed, as of Nov. 1, 2021, according to the  WHO Dashboards, the SARS-COV2 pandemic killed almost 5 million people worldwide, including 750,000 in the US alone (NYTimes COVID 19 Maps).

With synonyms  jab, shot or Fauci-Ouchi, the term vax (noun and verb) inflects with a double “ x “ as in “ vaxxed” or “anti-vaxxer”. Neologisms associated with the term include such items as:

• vaxxie (n): selfie taken while getting a COVID -19 vaccination (Urban Dictionary).
• vaxinista (n): person who gets the vaccine, and flaunts it with high-end shopping, trips and parties (Urban Dictionary).
• vax(x)(i)cation (n): after getting vaccinated, vacation taken without wearing a mask in 2021 (Urban Dictionary). 
• vax-a-thon (n): administration of a record number of jabs at a dedicated event. 
• vaxxident (n) (unrelated to chewing-gum): post-vaccine automobile accident on roadways, caused by mini-strokes and blood clots in the brain (Urban Dictionary).

On the occasion of the OED WOTY 2021 announcement, Oxford Languages also released a Report into the language of vaccines. Oxford Languages claims that "no word better captures the atmosphere of the past year than vax."

 Long live the vax! 

References

BBC News (Nov. 1, 2021).  Vax declared Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year. 
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-59089596

COVID in the US: Latest Maps and Case counts. NYTimes.   https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html

Oxford Languages – Word of the Year 2021: Vax.  https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2021/

Oxford Languages - A Report into the language of vaccines. https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2021/ (download link)

Petter, O. (Nov. 1, 2021). ‘Vax’ named Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/oxford-english-dictionary-word-vax-b1948929.html

Schuessier, J. (Nov. 1, 2021). Oxford’s 2021 Word of the Year Is a Shot in the Arm. NYTimes.    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/31/arts/vax-oxford-word-year.htm

Urban Dictionary  https://www.urbandictionary.com/

WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19)  Dashboards -  https://covid19.who.int/