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Hi Susan, I haven't participated in the list of words that you asked for. Mainly because I have no idea what "stay-at-home" is called in my language (Urdu). This could be due to two reasons: 1. We mix English with Urdu and have been using the word "Lockdown". 2. The word Lockdown hasn't meant Lockdown in Pakistan. Our government is competing with Britain and America for the medal in ineptitude. However, I disagree with the idea that numbers are more important than words. A numerical file cannot reveal that: 1. The numbers are wrong because (a) the country hasn't tested enough people; (b) the country is misreporting the number of people infected with or dying from Coronavirus. 2. The numbers are low/high in some countries because they did/did not take appropriate measures. 3. One of those numbers was a doctor whose family spent two hours driving from one hospital to another because the appropriate equipment wasn't available. Will the number reveal the doctor's personality or his family's grief? 4. Will sheer numbers force ethical behaviour i.e. preparation for a future pandemic? Didn't the Nazis know how many Jews they had killed? Didn't Boris Johnson know how many Italians had died when he proposed herd immunity? Words and arguments perform this function - not numbers. 5. Finally, the fact that I don't know the word for stay-at-home in my own language is a telling indicator of my government's response to the crisis. The numbers, alone, will not explain this. Pakistan and India have had an apparently low death rate from the virus which has sparked research into the possible protective effects of compulsory vaccines like BCG (tuberculosis) or musings about stronger immune systems because of poor hygiene. This is fair enough - we can see the ineffective response of both the Pakistani and the Indian governments. However, I recently read an article objecting to the same musings about the low death rate in some African countries. The author was arguing that this was because those specific countries (I forget their names) had taken active test, trace and quarantine measures much earlier than the USA and UK. Again, these differences cannot be identified, parsed and studied through numbers alone. Numbers are important but only within the context of words and language. Millions of people can be saved from pandemics using information carried in numbers. Whether they will be saved depends on words. Trump's supporters aren't protesting lockdown because Trump convinced them with the numbers. New Zealanders didn't deal beautifully with the coronavirus threat because PM Jacinda Ardern threw numbers at them. Doctors and nurses didn't risk their lives to serve because, "statistics". Numbers are a beautiful and powerful tool. But all meaning and action is carried in words. Respectfully, Mahvesh p.s. Thank you for the file. I appreciate the time and effort you have taken to prepare it. My non-mathematical brain doesn't yet have the strength to fully understand it. <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> On Tue, May 19, 2020 at 8:06 PM Susan Mitchell < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hello Everyone, > > > > Thank you very much for your “coronavirus words and phrases. This is the > biggest burst of activity on the mailing list that I’ve seen. However, > academic writing is so much more than words and phrases. > > > > Indeed, I’d like to shock you all here and say that actually I’m not very > interested in a corpus of academic words. I’m primarily interested in what > things mean. > > > > For example, conceptually, the doubling time of the number of cases of > coronavirus has close similarities with compound interest, the halving time > of the number of cases of coronavirus follows the same pattern as the > half-life of radioactive elements, and the distance we stand from each > other to prevent infection is just another form of Isaac Newton’s > gravitational inverse square law. > > > > These distinctly numerical, non-linguistic concepts do not depend on words > and phrases but stream out from economics and science into the natural > world, through people’s everyday lives and then, beyond the stratosphere, > into space. > > > > The famous British World War I poet Wilfred Owen put this non-linguistic > otherness very well. He did not say of his poetry that the poetry was in > the words. He said that *the poetry was in the pity*, and by this he > meant the pity for all the humanity that was lost in the Great War. > > > > He himself died a few days before the end of the War and did not live to > experience the influenza pandemic that occurred soon afterwards. If he had > been alive today he might have said that the poetry might well be in the > pity, but that the pity is in the numbers. For us, the pity is not in > politicians’ speeches, media reports, journalistic essays or even the words > used to describe the Lockdown or social/physical distancing. It is in the > fact that every single number we hear about represents a person and a > significant proportion of people represented by those numbers have lost > their lives. > > > > So rather than sending you words and phrases I’m sending you something > else. > > > > I’ve attached an Excel spreadsheet of the COVID-19 case numbers that I > have forced myself to collect while in Lockdown and the mathematics that > (as a non-mathematician) I’ve forced myself to understand. > > > > I have chosen to collect case numbers rather than deaths because such > numbers allow us to predict ahead and decide on good strategies to prevent > further outbreaks or future pandemics. It will be these things that will > influence the academic writing advice that I will give to any academics > studying how to prevent and control pandemics in the future. This is > because that without the numbers and an understanding of what those numbers > mean, even a vast corpus of words will not be enough. > > > > Please feel free to look at the attached Excel File and then maybe we can > talk about the meaning and how it might influence academic writing. I’ve > left the file as an Excel File rather than a pdf so that you can include > your own numbers* if you wish. If you would like me to explain any aspect > of the mathematics then I would be happy to do so. > > > > Stay safe and well. > > > > With very best wishes, > > > > > > Susan Mitchell > > > > > > **References* > > 1. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries (On any given > day, click the "yesterday" tab. This will give yesterday’s figures recorded > at midnight. ) > 2. Scottish figures from: > https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-daily-data-for-scotland/ > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > *From:* European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing - > discussions <[log in to unmask]> *On Behalf Of *Reichelt, Melinda J > *Sent:* 15 May 2020 15:51 > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* What are "stay-at-home orders" called in various languages? > > > > Dear EATAW Members, > > > > I hope this email finds you all well. > > > > On Monday, a reporter from my local newspaper (the T*oledo Blade*, out of > Toledo, Ohio, USA), will interview me for a story about the effect of > Coronavirus on the English language and other languages. She has told me > she is curious about how various languages are referring to what are called > "stay-at-home orders" in the U.S. I thought this listserv might be a good > place to gather information. I would be grateful if you would email me at > [log in to unmask] and tell me what stay-at-home orders are > called in the languages you know, and please give me a literal translation. > I'm also curious about whether other terms besides "stay-at-home orders" > are used in various English-speaking countries. In the U.S., I've also > heard (and used) the term quarantine to refer to staying at home, even if > you're not sick. > > > > If you wish, if you respond, I can send you a list of interesting > newly-coined words in English related to the Corona virus. Please just ask > me. I've been collecting them as one of my new Coronahobbies while I'm > confined to my home, needing new means of occupying myself. I have about 35 > so far, but here's a sampling: > > > > Coronabrain: When all you can think about is the Corona virus > > Covidfever: Like cabin fever > > Procrastibaking: What I've been doing instead of grading papers > > Coronababies: We'll have them in our classes in about 18 years and nine > months > > Hairpocalypse: My current hairdo, which probably won't improve if I let my > daughter give me a quarancut > > JOMO: Joy of missing out; the opposite of FOMO, fear of missing out > > Zoombies: (Zoom + zombie) What teachers feel they’ve become after > conducting classes all week on Zoom > > Zoomsmen: your groomsmen in a Zoom wedding > > Covedient: (Covid + obedient) describes people who are obedient to > stay-at-home orders > > Zumping: Dumping a romantic partner via Zoom > > > > Thanks, everyone. > > Melinda > > Dr. Melinda Reichelt > > Professor of English, Director of ESL Writing > University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, USA > > [log in to unmask] > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ To > unsubscribe login to https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=EATAW > You find the 'Unsubscribe' button in the blue 'Options bar' > _________________________________________________________________ To > unsubscribe login to https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=EATAW > You find the 'Unsubscribe' button in the blue 'Options bar' <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> _________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe login to https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=EATAW You find the 'Unsubscribe' button in the blue 'Options bar'