The language we speak amid COVID-19

Zhaohui Su; Francis Mungai Kaburu; Abdulswabul Kudiza; Ruijie Zhang; Chaojun Tong; Mehak Intizar; Jianlin Jiang; Xin Yu; Qiang Kuang; Ruru Chen; Dean McDonnell; Junaid Ahmed; Barry L Bentley; Ali Cheshmehzangi; Sabina Šegalo; Jing-Bao Nie; Claudimar Pereira da Veiga; Yu-Tao Xiang

doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2025.02.004

The language we speak amid COVID-19

Zhaohui Su
, Francis Mungai Kaburu
, Abdulswabul Kudiza
, Ruijie Zhang
, Chaojun Tong
, Mehak Intizar
, Jianlin Jiang
, Xin Yu
, Qiang Kuang
, Ruru Chen
, Dean McDonnell
, Junaid Ahmed
, Barry L Bentley
, Ali Cheshmehzangi
, Sabina Šegalo
, Jing-Bao Nie
, Claudimar Pereira da Veiga
, Yu-Tao Xiang

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate

Abstract

The language we speak shapes our reality. In this paper, we shed light on the fact that by inventing and normalizing phrases such as the "U.K. variant", "Chinese virus", or the "Spanish flu", we are not only endorsing discriminative narratives that could deepen divisions within society, harming people's mental health, but also distracting the public's attention from the most important issue amid the pandemic-how to stall or stem COVID-19 in a timely matter. Furthermore, we also make a call to actions for media professionals, health experts, and government officials to stop creating and popularizing discriminative COVID-19 terms, so that we can reduce the divisions between societies and better focus on controlling the pandemic. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.]

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	356-360
Number of pages	5
Journal	Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
Volume	126
Early online date	2 Feb 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2025.02.004
Publication status	Published - 2 Feb 2025

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

COVID-19
Coronavirus
Disinformation
Health Communication
Public Health

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10.1016/j.bbi.2025.02.004

Cite this

@article{54d550c291ad43959bc5ce062174b6db,

title = "The language we speak amid COVID-19",

abstract = "The language we speak shapes our reality. In this paper, we shed light on the fact that by inventing and normalizing phrases such as the {"}U.K. variant{"}, {"}Chinese virus{"}, or the {"}Spanish flu{"}, we are not only endorsing discriminative narratives that could deepen divisions within society, harming people's mental health, but also distracting the public's attention from the most important issue amid the pandemic-how to stall or stem COVID-19 in a timely matter. Furthermore, we also make a call to actions for media professionals, health experts, and government officials to stop creating and popularizing discriminative COVID-19 terms, so that we can reduce the divisions between societies and better focus on controlling the pandemic. [Abstract copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.]",

keywords = "COVID-19, Coronavirus, Disinformation, Health Communication, Public Health",

author = "Zhaohui Su and Kaburu, \{Francis Mungai\} and Abdulswabul Kudiza and Ruijie Zhang and Chaojun Tong and Mehak Intizar and Jianlin Jiang and Xin Yu and Qiang Kuang and Ruru Chen and Dean McDonnell and Junaid Ahmed and Bentley, \{Barry L\} and Ali Cheshmehzangi and Sabina {\v S}egalo and Jing-Bao Nie and \{da Veiga\}, \{Claudimar Pereira\} and Yu-Tao Xiang",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2025",

month = feb,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1016/j.bbi.2025.02.004",

language = "English",

volume = "126",

pages = "356--360",

journal = "Brain, Behavior, and Immunity",

issn = "0889-1591",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The language we speak amid COVID-19

AU - Su, Zhaohui

AU - Kaburu, Francis Mungai

AU - Kudiza, Abdulswabul

AU - Zhang, Ruijie

AU - Tong, Chaojun

AU - Intizar, Mehak

AU - Jiang, Jianlin

AU - Yu, Xin

AU - Kuang, Qiang

AU - Chen, Ruru

AU - McDonnell, Dean

AU - Ahmed, Junaid

AU - Bentley, Barry L

AU - Cheshmehzangi, Ali

AU - Šegalo, Sabina

AU - Nie, Jing-Bao

AU - da Veiga, Claudimar Pereira

AU - Xiang, Yu-Tao

PY - 2025/2/2

Y1 - 2025/2/2

N2 - The language we speak shapes our reality. In this paper, we shed light on the fact that by inventing and normalizing phrases such as the "U.K. variant", "Chinese virus", or the "Spanish flu", we are not only endorsing discriminative narratives that could deepen divisions within society, harming people's mental health, but also distracting the public's attention from the most important issue amid the pandemic-how to stall or stem COVID-19 in a timely matter. Furthermore, we also make a call to actions for media professionals, health experts, and government officials to stop creating and popularizing discriminative COVID-19 terms, so that we can reduce the divisions between societies and better focus on controlling the pandemic. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.]

AB - The language we speak shapes our reality. In this paper, we shed light on the fact that by inventing and normalizing phrases such as the "U.K. variant", "Chinese virus", or the "Spanish flu", we are not only endorsing discriminative narratives that could deepen divisions within society, harming people's mental health, but also distracting the public's attention from the most important issue amid the pandemic-how to stall or stem COVID-19 in a timely matter. Furthermore, we also make a call to actions for media professionals, health experts, and government officials to stop creating and popularizing discriminative COVID-19 terms, so that we can reduce the divisions between societies and better focus on controlling the pandemic. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.]

KW - COVID-19

KW - Coronavirus

KW - Disinformation

KW - Health Communication

KW - Public Health

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85219518216

U2 - 10.1016/j.bbi.2025.02.004

DO - 10.1016/j.bbi.2025.02.004

M3 - Comment/debate

C2 - 39904471

SN - 0889-1591

VL - 126

SP - 356

EP - 360

JO - Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

JF - Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

ER -

The language we speak amid COVID-19

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this