What can we learn from the #language of “living with covid”?
We wrote about the origins of “living with it”; how it became associated with Covid-19, and how – like other idiomatic phrases – it closes down discussion (“just live with it!”)
🧵 expands short piece in @bmj_latest
2. We searched on @LexisNexisUK for the first use, first use in association with Covid-19, and frequency of use, of twelve variations of ‘living with it’ and ‘learning to live with it’, up to the start of 2022.
It’s clear that ‘live/living’ outpaced ‘learn/learning’ versions.
3. Here are some examples from Lexis Nexis.
For each iteration of the phrase, we looked at the date and quote of the first (non-covid) mention; number of hits/mentions (to end December 2021); first Covid-19 mention, and an exemplar recent Covid-19 mention.
4. Idiomatic phrases like “living with X” often close down topics in everyday conversation, and we found that “live with it” also appeared as the take-home final line of articles (e.g., “Covid is here to stay, we just need to carry on as normal and learn to live with it”).
5. Phrases like “live with it” are used as “rhetorically self-sufficient” or standalone “clinched-it” statements. The “clinched-it” quality of “live with it” is supported by other grammatical and lexical features such as “just,” “simply,” “need/have/got to,” “must.”
6. In terms of “living with covid,” the phrase has become parodied and satirical (e.g., “We’ve just got to learn to live with Boris Johnson”) or scare-quoted as a position to be accepted or challenged (e.g., “‘living with covid’ idiocy”).
7. “Who” is learning to live with it is often opaque. The fact that “we” in “we need to live with it” generally refers to a whole population shows how inequalities get baked into the phrase. “We” do not have equal access to the resources needed to “live with it.”
8. Finally: Who is using saying “living with covid” is important – is it a twitter take, an expert, or a government minister?
On 21.2.22 Boris Johnson turned “living with covid” into the title of a formal statement to the House of Commons & the UK government’s current strategy.
9. Conclusion: “The challenge now is to cut through clichéd and binary uses of “living with covid” as “common sense” about which “no more need be said” to a more productive point of connection that promotes “learning” above “just living with it”.”
🧵.
🔗bmj.com/content/376/bm…
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