Cuomo has a little fun with semi-official COVID dictionary of New York

Sunday, October 18, 2020

Cuomo debuts semi-official COVID dictionary of New York

Cuomo had some fun as he listed some new phrases and terms that are either new or now have a different meaning.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo debuted his "Semi-Official Post COVID-19 Dictionary of New York State" during a press briefing on Sunday.

Cuomo listed some phrases and terms that are either new to the nation's vernacular amid the coronavirus pandemic or now have a different meaning.

Governor Cuomo announced a new plan for vaccine administration for New York State residents to promote trust and ensure safety in the vaccine

For example, Cuomo warned there is a difference between herd immunity and heard immunity, and he also pointed out that in addition to a COVID-15, there is also a COVID-20 and even a COVID-25.

Some of the terms are common knowledge while others allowed the governor to have a little fun.

Here are some of the highlights the governor shared on Sunday:

-Antigen Tests: Immunoassays that detect the presence of a specific viral antigen, which implies current viral infection

-Blursday: When all the days of the week start to blur together

-Briefing: Daily factual source of news

-Bubble: A group of friends or family quarantining together as a group. See also: pod

-Community spread: When infection moves through a set area, causing uncertainty over how and when infection occurs

-Contact tracing: Stops the spread by alerting others to positive status

-Containment zone: Isolated area to help stop the spread

-COVID Express: The plane the virus came to New York on

-COVID-15: Weight gained from stress/boredom-eating during the pandemic

-Covidiot: Someone who underestimates the danger the virus poses. See also: moronavirus

-Doomscrolling: When you can't stop consuming the bad news on Twitter

-Essential business: The stores and services that keep our state running

-Essential workers: The people who risked their own lives so the rest of us could stay home. See also: hero

-Flatten the curve: Our collective efforts to stop the spread, bring down the infection rate and save lives

-Herd immunity: When enough people are immune from the virus that the whole community becomes immune

-Heard immunity: When someone mistakenly believes they're immune, via word of mouth

-KN-95: Chinese-made respirator mask shown to be less effective than an N-95 mask

-Micro-cluster: A hotspot COVID outbreak identified on a block-by-block level

-N-95: A highly effective type of respirator or surgical mask

-New York Tough: Type of strength needed to overcome a pandemic. See also: Smart, United, Disciplined, Loving

-Powerpoint: The world's most effective and beautiful form of communication

-PPE: Gear that protects yourself - and protects others

-Quarantine: Staying home to save lives

-Quaranteam: The squad that helps you get through it all. See also: Quaranfam

-Quarantini: An alcoholic beverage consumed during quarantine

-Rapid test: The fastest and most painless way to learn your infection status

-Rona: For when you just don't have the energy to say the whole thing

-Self-isolation: Precautionary measure when you think you might be infected

-Social distancing: Staying apart to stop the spread. Known to actually bring New Yorkers closer together

-Super-spreader: Single source of a large-scale outbreak. See also: Trump, D.

-Surge-and-flex: Effective strategy to prevent any single hospital from becoming overwhelmed

-Surgical mask: Loose-fitting, disposable devices that cover the mouth

-V.A.P.: Vaccine Administration Program - a strategy to ensure the distribution and administration of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine to all New Yorkers.

-WFH: Working from home. Not quite a vacation, not quite a work day

-Zoom: Video-conferencing service appropriate for work, parties, weddings and everything in between

-Zoom shirt: That one nice shirt you have for your video meetings. All other clothing TBD

Cuomo says the dictionary is a work in progress. If you have any ideas or suggestions, click here to submit them.