Pan- dex-i-con> How the Language of the Pandemic Defined Our New Cultural Reality: Book Review

                                                                                          

                                                                            Jim's Review

                                                      Wayne Grady provides the intense play by play as to the beginnings of the pandemic and near end and everything in the middle that happened

  Politics, drama and denials were everywhere as humanity faced its biggest test and failed! (my opinion)

  Reading through it brought back memories as they happened yesterday from March 2020 when everything and everyone went into lock down for many months. It wasn't until January 2021 when vaccines had been created but it was to late too many had died all over the world

We had new strains and more problems that caused more confusion for us staying home and to other travelling or those with family in long term care facilities.

 In the end we did learn some lessons but at what cost? 

                                                                                  10 out of 10 stars

                                                                               About book

Did you keep a list of the words coined by Covid? Wayne Grady did! They're deftly woven into a journal/timeline, taking us through two years of surrealism and limbo.—Margaret Atwood

This exploration of the many new terms of the Covid-19 pandemic provides insight into the ways an ever-evolving vocabulary helped us cope with our anxiety and adapt to a new reality

When the pandemic struck in early 2020, Wayne Grady started collecting the words and phrases that arose from our shared global experience. Some, such as "uptick" and "pivot," had existed before but now took on new meaning, and others, such as "covidivorce," "quarantini," "covexit," and "shecession," appeared for the first time, their meaning instantly clear. Through this new vocabulary, we became more able to adapt to change, to domesticate it in a sense, and to reduce our fears.

Moving from the very beginning of the pandemic (the "Before Times") and our early response to it through the peaks and troughs of the various waves in countries throughout the world, and ending with a contemplation of what the "After Times" might look like, this book takes us on a journey through the pandemic and illuminates both how this new language has unfolded and how it has changed the way we think about ourselves and each other. learn more