30 TIME December 21/December 28, 2020
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELISABETTA CALABRITTO FOR TIME
covidiot
Noun
A pejorative term for someone who
ignores health and safety
guidelines intended to prevent
the spread of COVID-19BIPOC
Acronym
A term for Black, Indigenous
and other people of color,
intended to highlight, in
particular, the identities
and experiences of Black
and Native American
communities in the U.S.defund
Ve rb
To withdraw fi nancial
support, as in calls by the
movement to defund the
police, which promotes
a public-safety model
that shifts resources
from law enforcement
to community-led social
programs and initiatives
superspreader
Noun, adjective
A person or event
responsible for transmitting
an infectious disease to
a large number of peopleSOCIAL DISTANCING
Noun
A term for a set of measures to prevent the spread of
a contagious disease, the usage of which increased by
400% this year, as authorities encouraged people to keep
a safe space from people who are not in their household
or “bubble” during the COVID-19 pandemicbubble
Noun
A small group of
individuals who follow
the same rules and
standards for behavior—
and can thus spend time
together—during the
pandemic, popularized
by the isolation zone
the NBA created at
Disney World to protect
basketball playersquarantini
Noun
The day- or nighttime cocktail
many have used to unwind
amid remote work
and COVID-19 lockdownssimp
Noun
A colloquial term,
popularized on
TikTok, for a man
who is overly
accommodating
or devoted
to someone
(usually a
woman), or a
very devout fananti racist
Adjective
Relating to people or actions working against systemic racism
and the historical oppression of marginalized groupsentanglement
Noun
A reference to an extramarital affair, popularized when Jada
Pinkett Smith discussed an instance of marital infi delity on an
episode of her Red Table Talk show with her husband Will Smith
ON MUTE
Idiom
Used when a fellow video-call
participant is speaking without
their microphone on, as in
“you’re on mute,” a refrain
popularized this year on Zoom
calls around the worldDOOMSCROLL
Ve rb
To addictively thumb through the deluge
of bad news shared on social media in
2020, frequently undertaken at bedtimeKaren
Noun
A colloquial term
for a white woman
weaponizing her
privilege, often at the
expense or well-being
of a BIPOC individualblursday
Noun
The fuzzy merging
of time since the
pandemic shut
down so much of
the world, making
it diffi cult to
determine what day
of the week it isLanguage