Virus bomber and corona hair: The Germans' creative pandemic language

"Lockdown" and "shutdown" have became part of everyday vocabulary in Germany. And since they're also combined with descriptive terms, the possibilities of creating new words are endless: "hard" and "light" were the most popular, but "yo-yo," referring to ever-changing lockdown rules, was another one, as well as "Flockdown," when heavy snow ("Flocken"=flakes) keeps everyone inside anyway.

The term Maskenmuffel, which combines the words mask and the colloquial word for grump quickly emerged last year when people in Germany, too, were required to wear face masks in trains, on busses and in stores. Some "grumps" refuse to wear facial coverings — but face fines if caught.

Remember packed bars and crowded beer gardens? These days, Germans can count themselves lucky if they can get together for what has emerged as Abstandsbier — literally a "distance beer," a neologism that refers to having a drink with someone while keeping a safe distance.

In mid-December 2020, hair salons in Germany were closed down. Their customers' hair didn't stop growing, which led to the neologism "corona mat." To everyone's great relief the salons were allowed to reopen on March 1 because of what was deemed their "importance for personal hygiene." No gardening shears required.

When schools are shut down, that means online classes and remote learning courses for teachers and students. The German term for this, "Distanzunterricht" translates as "distance classes." The alternative came with overloaded servers and technical glitches: the present situation shows how badly German schools struggle with digitalization.

The issue of vaccinations is a touchy one in Germany, with vaccines trickling in much too slowly and confusion surrounding the effectiveness of one particular vaccine for older people. Meanwhile, some people who weren't on the priority list used their position to jump the queue and get vaccinated sooner. But "Impfdrängler," or vaccine cheats, face hefty fines.

In reactions to the different waves of COVID infections, the restrictions set up in Germany were referred to as a "Wellenbrecher," a wave-breaker, or breakwater. The term was used extensively last fall when stricter measures were introduced like a kind of protective structure to stem another wave of infections.

Wherever you look, there is the "fight" or the "war" against the virus. So the "Virenbomber" (virus bomber) is a fitting image, referring to people or perhaps even institutions that allegedly contribute greatly to the spread of COVID-19.

Germans call working from home instead of from the office "home office." It is not a new term, but has been used much more frequently during the pandemic. The German government stipulates that employers must offer their employees the option to work from home wherever possible to bring down infection numbers.