The language of now: an exploration of language change during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This study is an investigation into language change during the pandemic. It includes language samples from in-person interviews, which span across a seventy-year age range, an academic article, news articles, social media posts, music, and a Netflix special. Google trends, refined to the United States, was referenced to see when new terminology emerged to trace change correlated to the pandemic. This research proves the thesis that language had undoubtedly changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and new terminology has emerged, and will also continue to evolve following it.