Author: theauthor2022

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Pandemic Pandemic Art

Coronageddon

Coronageddon is a portmanteau of Armaggedon and Corona and refers to the end-times condition created by the rapid spread of Covid-19, mass hospitalizations and coronavirus deaths, huge job losses, lockdowns, quarantine and various other restrictions, not to mention constant news feed about the pandemic.

The Urban Dictionary has an entry for Coronageddon which was added on March 13, 2020:

“The near-certain, end-of-times condition created either by the actual COVID-19 virus or the massive social, financial and political devastation generated on the back of global hysteria” (YAWA).

Credit for the term must go to Bob Greer, a senior advisor for Core Commodity Management. According to a LinkedIn post he made on March 11, 2020, Bob dreamed up the term “coronageddon” in February 2020:

Living in Southern California has given our media more than one “..geddon” to talk about, regarding traffic, wildfires, etc. But I haven’t seen any referent anywhere to “coronageddon,” a term I dreamed up a couple of weeks ago. Maybe you will be able to use it (unfortunately) in your discussions or communications.

Greer

The term appeared in the Visual Thesaurus in an article entitled “New Virus, New Words.” Author Nancy Friedman says: “Since the COVID-19 pandemic began its lethal spread in December 2019, people all over the world have been adopting new behaviors and new vocabulary…Here are some of the new terms — call them coronacoinages or coronanovelties, in honor of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 — that I’ve been tracking over the last few weeks.”

The end of the world, brought about either by the pandemic or by related social and economic collapse. Often used facetiously. Previous such portmanteaus have included snowmageddon and carmageddon; the 55-hour shutdown in 2016 of a freeway through the town of Corona, in Southern California, was also dubbed Coronageddon.

Visual Thesaurus

Coronageddon appears in a news article on the The Truth About Watches website. After discussing the fall in Swiss watch sales, job losses and shorter employee hours, author Joseph Adamas laments that this may be the “beginning of the end for the traditional watch industry…Nine months into Coronageddon and we still don’t know how things are going to play out. The pandemic’s effects continue to shift. Two months ago, the Europeans were happy to lecture us on how their superior system managed the pandemic. Today, Paris is going back into lockdown. The uncertainty makes it very hard for companies to plan for their future and makes predictions almost worthless.”

Here is one person’s take on Coronageddon during 2020. It’s quite funny and I recommend watching it.

It’s important to acknowledge that coronageddon fears were not overblown. No one could have foreseen a two week lockdown in the United States turning into a two year nightmare. As the pandemic becomes endemic and the pubic health emergency in the United States is scheduled to end in January 2023 it is hopeful that humanity can put this once in a century event behind us and move forwards.

Social Media Trends as of October 31, 2022

Facebook #coronageddon: 1,600 people are posting about this
Instagram #coronageddon: 8,929 posts
TikTok #coronageddon: 219,100 views

Google Trends: coronageddon first appeared in December 2019 when Covid-19 was first spreading in China. It reached its peak during the first week of December 2020.

coronageddon search term

Sources:

Adams, Jospeh. “The Decline and Fall of the Traditional Watch Industry – Coronageddon 38.” The Truth About Watches. October 10, 2020. URL: https://thetruthaboutwatches.com/2020/10/the-decline-and-fall-of-the-traditional-watch-industry-coronageddon-38/.

Friedman, Nancy. “New Virus, New Words.” Visual Thesaurus. March 30, 2020. URL: https://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/new-virus-new-words/.

Greer, Bob. “Coronageddon.” LinkedIn. March 11, 2020. URL: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/coronageddon-bob-greer/?articleId=6643383753479634944.

Meme. “Coronageddon” meme. Meme. URL: https://me.me/i/armageddon-but-its-the-coronavirus-3e3212a33732412a9b932e9eae84ae49.

Mosley, Jordan channel. “Coronageddon: Expectations vs. Reality.” YouTube. 2020. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9o00OhW27E.

YAWA. “Coronageddon.” Urban Dictionary. March 13, 2020. URL: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Coronageddon.

Categories
Pandemic

Coronator

A blog post on KevinMD which discusses how new words were added to the covid lexicon defined “coronator” as the definition of someone who has recovered from the coronavirus (Maclellan-Tobert).

Coronator, which is a noun, is also found in the Urban Dictionary:

“Coronator – someone who recovers from corona virus.
Ruby just recovered from the corona virus. She is a badass Coronator.”

There isn’t much about this word in social media other than Instagram, however, as it did appear in the Urban Dictionary and a blog post I decided to include it. What’s interesting is the blogger’s description of how new words come into existence due to special circumstances:

It is fascinating that Merriam-Webster added 535 new words to their online dictionary in April with this explanation, “A new word is entered in our dictionary when evidence shows it in frequent use by many writers. Usually, this process takes at least a few years, but there are extraordinary cases when a new term enters the language and immediately becomes part of our collective daily vocabulary. Such is the case with the language of the current pandemic.”

KevinMD

Social Media Trends as of October 31, 2022

TikTok #coronator: 22,400 views

Sources:

Maclellan-Tobert, Susan. “The new words from the coronavirus pandemic.” KevinMD. May 28, 2020. URL: https://www.kevinmd.com/2020/05/the-new-words-from-the-coronavirus-pandemic.html.

mirage88. “Coronator.” Urban Dictionary. March 15, 2020. URL: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Coronator.

Categories
Pandemic Virus

Scariant

From the Delta variant to the Omicron variant, it seems like every week there is a new variant of Covid-19 or a subvariant of a given variant. Quite often you see disturbing headlines of a new strain of Covid-19 and the fear machine gets going. Enter the “scariant” – a bigger, scarier new variant of coronavirus, impervious to all previous vaccines and renders your immunity with impunity.

On 26 April 2021 a Cambridge Dictionary blog post had some word suggestions to add to the dictionary. Here is the definition for scariant:

any new variant of covid-19 that people are very worried about because of the way it is reported in the media, despite the lack of scientific evidence to suggest it is any more dangerous than the original virus

Cambridge Dictionary

Not to be outdone is the Urban Dictionary definition of scariant:

“Portmanteau combining scary and variant. Exaggerated fear of a COVID-19 variant.

What scariant is on the menu this week. India? South Africa? Or is it a double fusion super scariant?” (ChrisR41).”

The short video below, entitled “Variant, Scariant, Lab Error” discusses the new variant Deltacron which consists of strains of both the Delta and Omicron variants of Covid-19.

courtesy of knowshares

Social Media Trends as of October 23, 2022

Facebook #scariant: people are posting about this
Instagram #scariant: 198 posts
TikTok #scariant: 8,259 views

Google Trends: scariant first registered during the week of April 19, 2020 but didn’t reach its popularity peak until the last week of November that year.

scariant search term

Sources:

ChrisR41. “Scariant.” Urban Dictionary. April 22, 2021. URL: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Scariant.

knowshares. Scariant meme. Imgflip. 2021. URL: https://imgflip.com/i/5wcobp.

OTV News channel. “Deltacron: Variant, ‘Scariant’, Lab Error… What We Know So Far.” YouTube. 2022. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEqFx16WthM.

“New words – 26 April 2021.” Cambridge Dictionary. March 5, 2021. URL: https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2021/04/26/new-words-26-april-2021/.

Topol, Eric. “How to Fix the Scariant Problem” tweet. Twitter. Mar 5, 2021. URL: https://twitter.com/erictopol/status/1367932195243880449?lang=ca.

Categories
Pandemic

Lockstalgia

Lockstalgia is a portmanteau of lockdown and nostalgia and it means a fondness for the time when the world was in lockdown. Granted, not many will look back fondly on these memories, but some will. If you are now required to go back to the office full time, you might reminisce about the time you could work remotely in your pajamas or take the dog for a walk during lockdown. You might have started new hobbies during this period that you stopped doing once pandemic restrictions lifted and life went slowly back to normal.

The Collins Dictionary’s entry for lockstalgia is defined as “nostalgia for a time when the country was in lockdown, or in a more extreme form of lockdown.”

Lockstalgia also appears in the Cambridge Dictionary blog as one of several new words that entered the vocabulary in 2020:

a feeling of nostalgia for the lockdown period of the covid-19 pandemic.

Above all, just as you may have entered lockdown with purpose, exit it with purpose too. If you do not, then you may start having feelings of “lockstalgia”, and start regretting that you did not keep doing the things that you not only found more efficient but preferred and actually enjoyed.

Mark Pittaccio, a business consultant and behavioral economist for Quilter Financial Planning has some suggestions on how to avoid feelings of lockstalgia:

[the] things we did during lockdown happened in a set of very strange circumstances, and were partly driven by survival instincts. As we move forward, we need to consider how we adopt new things as the traditional rhythms of life resume…Above all, just as you may have entered lockdown with purpose, exit it with purpose too…If you do not, then you may start having feelings of ‘lockstalgia’, and start regretting that you did not keep doing the things that you not only found more efficient but preferred and actually enjoyed.

Citywire

In writing for the Daily News one author sums up their reflections of the pandemic, restrictions and lockdown: “To look on the bright side, as life begins to embrace the ‘new normal’ in our homes, cities and communities, albeit the imaginary horrors experienced by those like me, let’s store all the experiences of the past few months in a secure part of our minds for a time when we may look fondly upon the months of lockdown and tell our grandchildren and great grandchildren stories of how ‘My boss tested posi for the ’Rona so I was in iso. Popped down to the supermarket for some sanny, but it was all Magpie’d.’ Let’s call these memories, lockstalgia” (Dissanayake).

courtesy of Mike Sassi

Social Media Trends as of October 22, 2022

Facebook #lockstalgia: people are posting about this.

Sources:

Dissanayake, Aditha. “Lockstalgia.” DailyNews. October 5, 2020. URL: http://www.dailynews.lk/2020/10/05/tc/230489/lockstalgia.

“Lockstalgia.” Cambridge Dictionary. September 7, 2020. URL: https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2020/09/07/new-words-7-september-2020/.

Melony. “Lockstalgia.” Collins Dictionary. July 8, 2020. URL: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/submission/22592/lockstalgia.

Pittaccio, Mark. “How to avoid ‘lockstalgia’ as pandemic restrictions end.” Citywire.com. July 2, 2020. URL: https://citywire.com/new-model-adviser/news/how-to-avoid-lockstalgia-as-pandemic-restrictions-end/a1374637.

Sassi, Mike. “Lockstalgia” tweet. Twitter. May 14, 2020. URL: https://mobile.twitter.com/MikeSassi/status/1260932428098461696.

Categories
Pandemic Pandemic Relationships

Corona baby

When couples are isolated indoors during lockdown and didn’t have much else to do, it seems logical they would be having more sex and more often that not this resulted in more babies being born. It’s hard work taking care of a newborn baby but imagine how difficult it was becoming a parent during the pandemic, coping with shortages of toilet paper and formula, not to mention the financial cost of taking care of a baby when millions of jobs were lost during lockdown.

The cohort of babies born during the global pandemic have come to be known as “corona babies.” The term started to appear in online articles and social media posts around March 2020 and the term appears in the Urban Dictionary:

A baby created as a result of the 2020 coronavirus outbreak, where people isolated together indoors with nothing better to do than “work from home” and hoard toilet paper.

“Did you know they just had a corona baby?”

“Being shut in together for 2 months will do that”

“At least the corona baby has a lifetime supply of TP“

The possibility of a Covid baby boom was discussed in a tweet posted by Starcasm on March 16, 2020.

Back in 2020 The List published a YouTube video asking viewers the question “will the coronavirus lead to a baby boom?”

More than two years after lockdown we have the answer to this question. An article published for the Daily Caller on May 24, 2022 acknowledged there had been an increase in the birth rate caused by the pandemic:

The U.S. birthrate saw a 1% increase over the course of 2021 with 3.66 million babies being born throughout the year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics. All age groups of women over 25 contributed to the jump in birthrates, with some experts suggesting that a lengthening COVID-19 pandemic might have contributed to the bump, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Bryan Babb
courtesy of Mercenary_hero

Social Media Trends as of October 9, 2022

Facebook #coronababy: 11,000 people are posting about this
Instagram #coronababy: 43,396 posts
TikTok #coronababy: 29,900,000 views
YouTube #coronababy: 100 videos and channels

Google Trends: “corona baby” peaked during the week of March 15th 2020 which coincided with lockdown.

corona baby search term

Sources:

Babb, Bryan. “CORONA-BABIES: US Birth Rate Increases For The First Time In Seven Years.” DailyCaller.com. May 24, 2022. URL: https://dailycaller.com/2022/05/24/us-birth-rate-increase-covid-pandemic/.

dots4dickn. “Corona baby.” Urban Dictionary. March 14, 2020. URL: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Corona%20baby.

Mercenary_hero. “Covid babies on the way…” meme. MemeDroid.com. June 14, 2021. URL: https://www.memedroid.com/memes/detail/3380395/Covid-babies-on-the-way.

Starcasm. “9 months from now there are going to be a LOT of babies being born…” Twitter. March 16, 2020. URL: https://twitter.com/starcasm/status/1239636704392249347.

The List channel. “Will The Coronavirus Lead To A Baby Boom?” YouTube. 2020. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vuIsV2XSXg.

Categories
Pandemic Pandemic Relationships

Corona zoned

Looking for love during a global pandemic can be tricky. It’s difficult to meet someone during periods of lockdown so many people used dating apps and kept in touch using zoom or chat. If you get to the stage where you want to meet up IRL then prepare to be corona zoned. This is where your partner is afraid to come over and get intimate in case they catch the ‘Rona and if you’re not vaccinated your relationship may end abruptly. This is probably just a notch up from being friend zoned.

The Urban Dictionary has a crude definition for corona zoned:

The new cockblock of 2020 due to the quarantine situation during the coronavirus outbreak. When a girl you trying to have sex with won’t meet with you purely out of fear that she might get infected with the virus.

flame99fromthablocc

An article published for the Huff Post explains it more eloquently: “When someone ― very understandably! ― doesn’t want to come to your place to hook up out of fear of catching or spreading the virus, you’ve been corona-zoned” (Wong).

Social Media Trends as of October 8, 2022

Facebook #coronazoned: people are posting about this.

Sources:

flame99fromthablocc. “Corona zoned.” Urban Dictionary. March 18, 2020. URL: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=corona%20zoned.

Wong, Brittany. “13 New Dating Terms We Have COVID-19 To Thank For.” Huff Post. October 27, 2020. URL: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/new-dating-terms-covid-pandemic_l_5f90a2b7c5b695a32fb005f0.

Categories
Pandemic Pandemic Relationships

Corona-cuffing

What comes before Lockdown engagement? Corona-cuffing. This dating term appeared around March 2020 and refers to the “act of pressing fast forward on dating and going straight to the serious relationship stage, due to the challenging experience of being a single person during lockdown” (Glamour). Fear of missing out, maybe fear of dying alone is a strong motivator during a global pandemic when people are seeing their loved ones getting sick and possibly dying from Covid-19.

Single people have been particularly challenged by Covid restrictions, lockdown and quarantine. For many, it has made their loneliness more difficult to live with. An article published for Glamour on September 24, 2020 featured an interview with Rebecca, a 32 year old from London who “corona-cuffed” out of loneliness:

“I started talking to a guy on Hinge just before lockdown and quite literally locked him down for quarantine. It has totally enhanced my lockdown experience having someone to talk to every day and we even went on a post-quarantine holiday together, but I know he’s not The One. I was just desperate to lock someone down since I couldn’t date IRL – but things are already starting to go south as we adjust to ‘normal’ again. But, I don’t want to call things off because I’m so scared I won’t find anyone before the next lockdown.

Glamour

The Redonline magazine featured an interview with Hinge’s Director of Relationship Science, Logan Ury, who said: “Cuffing season is a period of time after the fun summer of love and being single, before the cold, lonely months of winter when people really want to get into a relationship.” There are downsides to rushing into relationships with people you hardly know especially when commitments are made too quickly. Ury continues that “Hinge are now seeing a lot more intentional daters on the app, who have used their time alone during lockdown to re-assess their dating habits” (Ilston).

Check out the informational video below as Iman Hariri-Kia, Bustle’s relationship editor, discuss the advantages and risks of settling down with a short term partner during a pandemic.

courtesy of dangremonster

Social Media Trends as of October 2, 2022

Facebook #coronacuffing: people are posting about this
Instagram #coronacuffing: 23 posts

Google Trends: surprisingly “corona-cuffing” did not get picked up by the Google search engine. This may change in the future.

Sources:

Bustle channel. “Does Covid Cancel Cuffing Season?” YouTube. December 24, 2020. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEz9RKowJIc.

dangremonster. “love in the time of corona” meme. Reddit. 2020. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/CoronavirusMemes/comments/fd2d0g/love_in_the_time_of_corona/.

“The Corona-cuff.” Glamour. September 24, 2020. URL: https://www.glamour.co.za/wellness/corona-cuffing-is-the-new-lockdown-dating-trend-thats-seeing-everyone-coupling-up-because-of-the-10pm-curfews-and-ban-on-casual-sex-rules-aa48c074-deee-46cf-aaf6-98d53886aed6.

Ilston, Sarah. “The new dating trend that’s doubled in popularity since lockdown.” Redonline. 30 October 2020. URL: https://www.redonline.co.uk/wellbeing/sex-relationships/a34492908/covid-cuffing-dating-trend/.

Categories
Pandemic Pandemic Relationships

Faucied

The dating world has seen new terms added during the Coronavirus pandemic, from Turbo Relationship to Lockdown Engagement. In 2020 the dating website Plenty of Fish coined the term “faucied” named after Dr. Anthony Fauci who serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and as Chief Medical Advisor to the President. Dr. Fauci has become something of a household name due to his expertise on coronavirus and for his regular appearances on TV.

Dr. Fauci has been a strong advocate for wearing masks during the pandemic and it is because of this that the term “faucied” came into being. Bruce Lee, a writer for Forbes magazine explains why:

When you “Fauci” someone, you don’t date that person because he or she is not taking Covid-19 and COvid-19 precautions seriously enough. For example, you may be Fauci-ing him because he claimed that the Covid-19 coronavirus is a hoax or is nothing more than the common cold. Or perhaps you have Fauci’d her because she’s posting selfies while in a maskless mosh pit.

Forbes

The term even made its way to the Urban Dictionary:

Declining to date someone because you don’t feel they’re taking COVID-19 seriously enough.

If I had a nickel for every time I found myself fauci-ing someone this year, I could pay off my student loans.”

Urban Dictionary

Check out this tweet where Axios managing editor, Margaret Talev, interviews Dr. Fauci over the new dating term coined using his name.

Dumping a date for their inconsiderate behavior during a global pandemic is perfectly justified but give them plenty of warnings first.

Social Media Trends as of October 2, 2022

TikTok #faucied: 66,600 views

Google Trends: faucied first appeared in Google’s search engine during the week of April 5, 2020. The popularity of the term waxed and waned until it peaked during the week of July 17, 2022.

faucied search term

Sources:

Axios. “Fauci learns how his name has been added to pandemic dating lexicon.” Twitter. February 14, 2021. URL: https://twitter.com/axios/status/1360971473288982531.

Lee, Bruce Y. “To ‘Fauci’ Someone Is Now A Covid-19 Coronavirus Dating Term, Here Are Others.” Forbes. February 22, 2021. URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2021/02/22/getting-faucid-and-other-covid-19-coronavirus-dating-terms/?sh=34f4481b71b6

“Fauci-ing.” Urban Dictionary. November 10, 2020. URL: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fauci-ing.

Categories
Pandemic Pandemic Relationships

Turbo Relationship

It’s no surprise that during the pandemic many people felt lonely and isolated during periods of lockdown and quarantine. Many felt the constant restrictions on movement with each new Covid wave were never ending. Couples didn’t want to be stuck at home and apart from each other so many made the decision to move in together making lockdown easier to manage. Enter the “turbo relationship,” a positive side effect of the pandemic where couples felt their relationship moved at a quicker pace than it normally would have done during periods of lockdown and where commitment milestones happened faster.

This podcast presented by Shira and Ryan discusses how dating has changed during the pandemic which has led to the term “Turbo Relationships.” (Audacy). The discussion begins at 0:33:25.

A Yahoo news report said it was unclear where the term “turbo relationship” had originated from but that it was used heavily in a report called Relationships in Lockdown produced by dating websites eHarmony and Relate. Couples’ counselors met with focus groups and the findings came from a “nationally representative sample of more than 2,000 adults” (Miller). This is what the report found:

Coined ‘turbo relationships’, over a third agree that two months in isolation feels equivalent to two years of commitment, and the same amount say they’ve reached common relationship milestones, such as moving in together, quicker. This acceleration has also led to more sex, better communication and the opportunity to discover new, shared passions.

Relate

The relationship website DatingAdvice.com published a list of dating definitions on April 4, 2022 which includes the turbo relationship:

A turbo relationship is like dating on steroids. It’s a relationship on the fast track on the highway to love. This relationship trend appeared more frequently during the beginning of the pandemic, when couples quickly decided to quarantine together rather than weathering the virus alone. With a turbo relationship, couples get serious super quickly, and often define the relationship by the second date.

By the end of the week, a couple in a turbo relationship may decide they’re a perfect match, confess their love to their new partner, and talk about a future together.

Spira

Watch the discussion below as Kulie and Yue discuss their own experiences with Turbo Relationships and ask some important questions. Are turbo relationships a good thing or are there drawbacks to moving so quickly?

courtesy of Tristanpope

Social Media Trends as of September 28, 2022

Facebook #turborelationship: people are posting about this
Instagram #turborelationship: people are posting about this

Google Trends: “turbo relationship” was first picked up in March 2020 when lockdowns began in the United States. The term hit a peak in July 2021 when the delta variant of Covid-19 gained ground forcing new lockdowns and quarantines. The popularity of the term began to subside at the end of August 2022.

turbo relationship search term

Sources:

Datable channel. “Turbo relationships during Covid: do they work?” YouTube. 2021. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aOaHZrBWmQ.

Miller, Korin. “’Turbo relationships’ are on the rise as pandemic brings some couples closer together.” Yahoo.com. June 25, 2020. URL: https://www.yahoo.com/video/turbo-relationships-rise-coronavirus-pandemic-brings-some-couples-closer-together-205925280.html.

Shira and Ryan. “What Is A Turbo Relationship?.” Audacy. October 15, 2020. URL: https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/lets-go-there-with-shira-ryan-22293/what-is-a-turbo-relationship-347946309.

Spira, Julie. “20 Modern Dating Definitions Singles Should Know.” Dating Advice.com. April 4, 2022. URL: https://www.datingadvice.com/online-dating/dating-definitions-2.

Tristanpope. “Dating Before and After Covid.” Reddit.com. 2020. URL: https://i.redd.it/fm48jczgwpu41.png.

Categories
Pandemic Pandemic Art Pandemic Relationships

Lockdown engagement

The pandemic changed all aspects of our lives and how we do certain things but it didn’t stop people falling in love and getting engaged. For many couples during periods of lockdown and/or quarantine, this is the first time they’ve been alone together for weeks or months on end. It can make it difficult not to step on each others’ toes. Being around someone 24/7 during lockdown allows you to see your partner’s strengths and weaknesses. It can certainly test a relationship but it can also make a person realize that the person they’re dating is the one they want to spend the rest of their life with so many did pop the question – hence the phrase “lockdown engagement.”

Although the phrase doesn’t appear in any dictionary definitions, it does appear a lot in social media. An article published in The National News on December 24, 2020 entitled “Glossary of 2020: the 36 new words and phrases that defined the year” had this to say:

As ubiquitous across social media as the sourdough starter (see below), the lockdown engagement is the act of popping the question because you’ve read the entire internet, watched everything on Netflix and are looking for the next distraction. US actress and singer Demi Lovato became the poster child for the lockdown engagement, when she and The Young and the Restless actor Max Ehrich got engaged one month after quarantining together.

Gemma White

The Hitched website that caters to weddings explains the difficulties that couples faced during this unprecedented time: “We spoke to three couples who said ‘Yes!’ during lockdown and discovered what it was really like to get proposed to during a global pandemic. From cancelled holidays where romantic proposals were planned to rings getting stuck in shut-down jewellery shops, lockdown certainly threw a spanner in the works! Add in not being able to hug your loved ones or tell them the good news face-to-face, and lockdown proposals really were – yep – an unprecedented experience” (Pye).

Early on in the pandemic, there were all kinds of dating and wedding websites offering advice to couples living together in lockdown. One British company specializing in elopement weddings had this to say: “Lockdown Engagements –  we’ve had a lot of enquiries recently from couples who have popped the question during this time (COVID 19). I’m loving hearing about these lockdown engagement stories – keep em coming! And I’m loving seeing love conquer all during this time!!” The company offers tips on how couples can celebrate their lockdown engagement during quarantine:

ZOOM LOCKDOWN ENGAGEMENT PARTY!

Organise a zoom party and surprise your nearest and dearest with the news! it’s that simple.

PLANT A TREE FOR YOUR LOCKDOWN ENGAGEMENT

Planting a tree, or a plant, some seeds or ANYTHING is a lovely idea. This doesn’t have to be a big plant and if you don’t have a garden, plant it in a pot for your home. You can watch it grow, and see it in years to come as a momentum of your lockdown engagement.

TREAT YOURSELF!

There are loads of services online that delivered bespoke hampers…Most local businesses are doing online deliveries at the moment – get a nice selection of your favourite things…and have a romantic date night.

Ever After Elopement Weddings

Lockdown inspired many content creators including those who make greeting cards. BrainBoxCandy who sells cards on Etsy created this “Lockdown Engagement” card.

courtesy of BrainBoxCandy

Here is one couple who had to change their original engagement plans due to Covid 19. They show how to plan an amazing lockdown engagement party!

Social Media Trends as of September 26, 2022

Facebook #lockdown engagement: 1,200 people are posting about this
Instagram #lockdown engagement: 4,508 posts

Google Trends: “lockdown engagement” first registered in February 2020 just before lockdown began but this may refer to users in China where the pandemic started. The popularity of the term peaked in December 2021 when the Omicron variant was spreading around the United States and the rest of the world resulting in more periods of lockdown and quarantine. This was a difficult time for couples because they couldn’t hold engagement parties and planning weddings during a pandemic with all the restrictions would have been almost impossible.

lockdown engagement search term

Sources:

BrainBoxCandy. “Cute Lockdown Engagement Card.” Etsy.com. 2020. URL: https://www.etsy.com/listing/835223981/cute-lockdown-engagement-card.

“Lockdown Engagement – celebrating your engagement during quarantine.” Ever After Elopement Weddings. April 28, 2020. URL: https://lowergrenofen.co.uk/lockdown-engagement-celebrating-your-engagement-during-quarantine/.

Pye, Helen. “This Is What It’s Like to Get Engaged During Lockdown.” Hitched. 16 July 2020. URL: https://www.hitched.co.uk/real-weddings/lockdown-engagement/.

White, Gemma. “Glossary of 2020: the 36 new words and phrases that defined the year.” The National News. December 24, 2020. URL: https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/glossary-of-2020-the-36-new-words-and-phrases-that-defined-the-year-1.1134259.

Witty Vows channel. “How To plan home weddings/ engagement perfectly | Lockdown Engagement.” YouTube. July 14, 2020. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtQsY0D-5Ik.