English Words That Should Disappear This Year... 'Corona19'

US Lake Superior State University Survey: 7 of 10 Words to Ban This Year Are COVID-19 Related
'COVID-19', 'Social Distancing', 'Karen', 'sus', etc.

[Asia Economy International Department Reporter] A university in the United States selected the 'Top 10' words that should disappear this year, and it turned out that as many as seven of them were related to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

According to CNN on the 2nd (local time), Lake Superior State University in Michigan announced the top 10 items that need to disappear this year from over 1,450 recommended words and phrases.

The university has been releasing a list of words that should not be abused or misused every New Year since 1976, with the purpose of maintaining the excellence of language.

The word ranked number 1 on the list was COVID-19. Following that were six other words and phrases related to COVID-19, including 'social distancing', 'we are all in this together', 'in case of emergency', 'in these uncertain times', 'unprecedented', and 'focal point'.

The word 'Karen', used to mock clueless white middle-class women, was also included in the words to be eliminated. The university cited the reason that this word originally started to be used to criticize racism but has deteriorated into a comprehensive term of misogyny.

Also, 'sus', an abbreviation of 'suspicious' frequently appearing in online games, and the phrase 'I know, right?', which expresses empathy with someone who agrees, were included in the top 10.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.