The “vaccine” was named “Word of the Year” 2021 on Monday by the prestigious American online dictionary Merriam-Webster on the grounds that, in addition to being the leading drug to treat the Covid-19 pandemic, it was also a “political argument and source.” division “.
“It is rare for words to express so many things in a given period of time,” the dictionary said in a statement.
“The word vaccine meant many more things than medicine in 2021. For many, it symbolizes a possible return to life as it was before the pandemic. “But it was also at the center of the debate about personal choices, political orientation, professional regulations, school safety, health inequality and so much more.”
Research into a treatment for the new coronavirus found in China in the winter of 2019 began around the world from the beginning of the pandemic. Vaccines that use the new messenger RNA (mRNA) technology were rapidly developed, tested and produced on a large scale. In the US the first doses were given in December 2020 and earlier this year a mass vaccination campaign was launched.
The word ‘vaccine’
– saw a 601% increase in lookups this year over last.
– had continual spikes of attention through the year.
– was about much more than medicine in 2021.‘Vaccine’ is our 2021 #WordOfTheYear.https://t.co/i7QlIv15M3
– Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 29, 2021
“Using a vaccine that elicits an immune response in a whole new way forced Merriam-Webster to revise and extend the definition of the word,” the dictionary added in May.
Online searches for the word “vaccine” increased by 601% between 2020-21 and by 1.048% between 2019-21.
The English word vaccine comes from the Latin vacca (cow), because the vaccinia virus, a disease of cattle, was used for the smallpox vaccine in humans.
Among the words with the most internet searches this year was also the insurrection on the occasion of the violent riots on the Capitol on January 6, the name of the NASA Perseverance robot (“Perseverance”) that arrived on Mars in February. and the term woke used by the American left to describe those who are aware of gender or racial inequalities and inequalities.
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