chat bench noun [C]
/ˈtʃæt.bentʃ/
a long seat in a public place where strangers are encouraged to sit and talk to each other

In a bid to fight loneliness, Avon & Somerset Police set up a scheme in May to create “chat benches”. Marked with a sign that reads: “Happy to chat bench. Sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping to say hello,” the seats break down invisible social barriers. Chat benches have since popped up across the globe.
[redonline.co.uk, January 2020]

joy strategist noun [C]
UK /dʒɔɪ.ˈstræt.ə.dʒɪst/ US /dʒɔɪ.ˈstræt̬.ə.dʒɪst/
someone whose job is to help people to be happier

Deeply driven by a sense of social responsibility, Harry, 50, works as a “joy strategist,” helping everyday people and artists like Jay-Z and Lauryn Hill connect their emotional dots. “I have a lot of friends that are healers, therapists, and life coaches, and I realized, that’s not what I want to do — I want to create a strategy around people finding joy and having joy be their North Star,” says Harry.
[Vogue, 23 October 2020]

social recession noun [C]
UK /ˌsəʊ.ʃᵊl.rɪˈseʃ.ᵊn/ US /ˌsoʊ.ʃᵊl.rɪˈseʃ.ᵊn/
a period when there is very little contact between all the people in a society

Typically, in moments of stress, we reach out to people. We spend time with people we love. And now we’re being asked not to do that, at least in physical terms. So I worry that we may incur what I think of as a social recession, with profound consequences for our health, for our productivity in the workplace, for how our kids do in school.
[mckinsey.com, 9 June 2020]

About new words

vaccine stamp noun [C]
/ˈvæk.siːn.stæmp/
a mark made in a passport to show that the holder has been vaccinated against the covid-19 virus

The new “vaccine stamps” would allow tourists to avoid being held up at borders if the international travel industry starts to pick up in the middle of next year as the pandemic subsides. The stamps are being considered by ministers at the Department for Transport (DfT) as a significant way to boost the aviation industry by giving a degree of certainty to travellers planning overseas holidays next summer.
[telegraph.co.uk, 29 November 2020]

Blursday noun [C]
UK /ˈblɜːz.deɪ/ US /ˈblɝːz.deɪ/
a humorous way of referring to any day of the week in the time of the covid-19 pandemic, from the fact that it is sometimes difficult to know which day it is

Blursday is a term that’s being tossed around on social media right now to describe the merging of minutes, hours and days since COVID-19 shut so much of the world down … Days, at least for the last couple months, have been flowing into each other with no line delineating one from the other. … Blursday posts might be funny on Facebook, but Blursday is a dangerous space for many people.
[lunarecovery.com, May 2020]

V-Day noun [S]
/ˈviː.deɪ/
the day when the vaccination programme against the covid-19 virus was launched in the UK

A 90-year-old woman has become the first person to receive an approved Covid-19 vaccine in the western world—the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine approved last week for emergency use in the U.K.—as the nation’s National Health Service (NHS) embarks on “V-Day,” a term ministers are using to describe the biggest immunization campaign in the organization’s history.
[forbes.com, 8 December 2020]

About new words

pub desk noun [C]
/ˌpʌb.ˈdesk/
a table in a pub that someone can use as a desk instead of working at home, usually in return for an hourly or daily payment

After seven months of working from home the cabin fever is starting to set in for many people … Now savvy pub and hotel owners who are facing a huge crisis in the hospitality industry have hit on a new trend to revive their coffers and our flagging attention spans – pub desks. Why camp out with your laptop in the spare bedroom when you could be in a cosy pub with snacks and drinks on hand and probably significantly better wifi than you have at home?
[www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk, 29 October 2020]

chumocracy noun [C]
UK /tʃʌ.ˈmɒk.rə.si/ US /tʃʌ.ˈmɑː.krə.si/
the situation in which someone important gives jobs to friends rather than to independent people who have the necessary skills and experience

Cronyism. Chumocracy. One rule for them, another for everyone else. Describe it however you want, but the past few months has painted a damning picture of the Tories’ slapdash approach to governing – one that is wasting taxpayers’ money and ignoring due process, all while placing favours for their friends above delivering for our local communities.
[www.independent.co.uk, 22 November 2020]

chronoleadership noun [U]
UK /ˌkrɒn.ə.ˈliː.də.ʃɪp/ US /ˌkrɑː.nə.ˈliː.dɚ.ʃɪp/
a way of organizing your working hours around the times of day when you naturally feel most awake

Flexible work schedules are currently not the norm, but sleep experts believe they should be. For 15 years, Camilla Kring has run B Society, which advises companies around the world on how to implement “chronoleadership” – the idea that they should adapt their work patterns to suit the sleeping schedules of their employees, rather than the other way around.
[The Observer Magazine, 31 May 2020]

About new words

black sky event noun [C]
/ˌblæk.skaɪ.ɪˈvent/
a serious event, such as a cyberattack or a natural disaster, that causes a widespread power cut

The National Commission on Grid Resilience, … convened to assess our ability to prevent or respond to a so-called black sky event, concludes in a report released Thursday that the country has fallen behind. The danger of a nation gone dark is rising.
[washingtonpost.com, 15 August 2020]

the Internet of Behaviour noun [S]
UK /ˌɪn.tə.net.əv.bɪˈheɪ.vjəʳ/ US /ˌɪn.t̬ɚ.net.əv.bɪˈheɪ.vjɚ/
a way of using the internet to connect computing devices and use the data from them to track people’s activities

The research and advisory firm says that by 2023, 40 percent of people worldwide will likely be having their individual activities tracked digitally by this Internet of Behaviour. “The Internet of Behaviour captures the ‘digital dust’ of people’s lives from a variety of sources, and that information can be used by public or private entities to influence behaviour,” says Gartner.
[istart.com.au, 29 October 2020]

digital republic noun [C]
UK /ˌdɪdʒ.ɪ.tᵊl.rɪˈpʌb.lɪk/ US /ˌdɪdʒ.ə.t̬ᵊl.rɪˈpʌb.lɪk/
a country whose citizens can access almost all government services on the internet

In Estonia, the only public service not available online is marriage. Dubbed the “digital republic”, Estonia has the most advanced e-government in the world and nurtures a vibrant start-up community. Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia, joins Azeem Azhar to explore how … this digital republic is navigating the Covid-19 pandemic.

[Harvard Business Review, 20 April 2020]

About new words

comfort spending noun [U]
UK /ˈkʌm.fət.ˌspendɪŋ/ US /ˈkʌm.fɚt.ˌspendɪŋ/
the act of buying nice things for yourself in order to feel better when you are stressed or unhappy

Now it’s almost fall, and we’ve graduated from hoarding toilet paper to making midnight online purchases that WalletHub calls “comfort spending.” It helps, somehow, to know that choices, even frivolous ones, are still possible. Maybe you can’t control a virus, but you can control Amazon Prime.
[houstonchronicle.com, 10 September 2020]

shecession noun [C]
/ʃiːˈseʃ.ᵊn/
an economic recession that affects mostly women

One of the unique aspects of the current recession is the way it’s impacting women: though men are more likely to die of Covid-19, the pandemic’s toll on employment is heavier for women. While the 1970s marked the start of “mancession” periods in industries like construction, the current “shecession” is heavily affecting sectors like hospitality and retail.
[www.bbc.com/worklife, 27 October 2020]

mortgage prisoner noun [C]
UK /ˈmɔː.gɪdʒ.ˌprɪz.ᵊn.əʳ/ US /ˈmɔːr.gɪdʒ.ˌprɪz.ᵊn.ɚ/
someone who is unable to transfer their mortgage to a lender that offers lower interest rates because the rules for borrowing have become stricter or their house is worth less than they owe

Mortgage prisoners are customers who have previously been unable to switch mortgages despite being up-to-date with their payments. The FCA changed its rules last year to allow lenders to assess affordability based on a mortgage prisoner’s track record of making mortgage payments if they are not looking to move house, or borrow more.
[ftadviser.com, 26 October 2020]

About new words