2020 is a special year. As coronavirus turned our world upside down and inside out, we adapted our company lives accordingly. We doubted and hesitated, but maybe this new world wasn't so bad?
However, as the nights close in, and our entire professional and social lives are cocooned in screens and pixels, few of us will look back at 2020 with any fondness. The quicker we consign it to history, the better. We believe that these are the top 10 words and phrases that you never, ever, want to hear again.
#10. New normal
Aka a “post-Covid world”. For many this should be top of the list but it sounds like March 2020. Now, it’s all about the “next normal”.
#9. Nice to e-meet you
#8. Shop streaming
It’s the latest tech trend to be “Covid-accelerated”. You can now buy a mango off a livestream. Awesome.
#7. Doom-scrolling
The endless scrolling through pandemic-filled news feeds.
#6. Blursday
We’ve all been there. When those lockdown days all blur into one.
#5. Virtual
Add virtual as a prefix to anything and it’s instantly ruined. Time to assign virtual yoga, quizzes and drinks to the bin.
#4. Generation Covid
Being assigned to Gen X, Y or Z was bad enough. Pity the souls who now make up Gen Covid.
#3. We’re all in this together
This is usually expressed by the well heeled, nestled in their holiday homes.
#2. Unprecedented
The Google Analytics chart showing the unprecedented use of “unprecedented” has been a staple in every agency presentation since 23 March.
#1. Your mic is muted
Followed closely by “Can you see my screen?” and “Can you hear me?” There’s a reason Zoom, Google Meet and other virtual meeting softwares aren’t in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This is because talking to a screen for eight hours a day is an affront to everything that makes us human. Bring on the day we can see each other again in high definition, in 3D, for real.
These are the words and phrases we never want to hear again. Let’s hope 2021 is brighter for us all and wishing everyone a fresh start with renewed energy and confidence throughout the year.