Our grandkids started the new school year this week — well, at least virtually. Kids, like a lot of people, have taken up residence in virtual worlds lately. Although virtual wasn’t a foreign word to me, since the virus outbreak, it is now appearing as a prefix to almost anything you can think of to describe a previous physical activity now being delivered by “electronic” means. Much, or most, of this virtuality has been because of the technical tools available. Zoom is another word that has taken on new meaning… now most people think of Zoom as the online meeting tool that people rely on for “virtual” meetings.
And of course, the popularity of Zoom has spawned another brand new word — Zoombombing, which is the practice of people hacking into online Zoom meetings to disrupt them.
I was reminded by the start of schools how the word virtual is being used “virtually” everywhere and that was what I intended to comment on today. But since we’re on the subject of new words, a new one (to me) popped up just the other day. Actually, I’m kind of fond of it — the word is Covidiot. It’s a new term used to describe anyone doing stupid things during the current pandemic, whether it’s stockpiling toilet paper or ignoring official guidance over how to behave to avoid spreading the disease.
So speaking for one of us that have taken up residence in a virtual world, I’m looking forward to all the new words that’ll appear when we get back in the real world. I hope our grandkids get all virtual A’s in school this year.
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