Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, "Amid" Becomes The Word Of The Moment

The outbreak of coronavirus around the world has changed the way everyone lives. But one thing most probably didn't anticipate was a total change of language. Well, maybe that's a little hyperbolic.

The word "amid" is having a moment right now, becoming the media's fancy-pants term for the word "during." Leaving Twitter users to say: "Oh la la, 'amid.' Right this way, your majesty." Check out how tired of the word we are "amid" its over-usage.

no one: absolutely nobody: editors working on coronavirus coverage: amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid amid

— dayana sarkisova (@dsarkisova) March 19, 2020

The word “amid” is really getting a workout in headlines this week.

— R. Eric Thomas (@oureric) March 19, 2020

Nobody:Fox news, CNN, ABC NEWS, CBS NEWS…:AMID

— Muhammed (@KrazyHafzy) March 17, 2020

AMID!!!! #yeg #covid19 #Alberta #CanadaCovid19 #partylikeajournalist pic.twitter.com/2KUqXhBTFr

— Kashmala Fida (@KashFida) March 20, 2020

If one more media outlet uses the word “amid” in their headlines while talking about COVID-19 I might actually scream… how limited is our vocabulary?!

— Dixon_dude (@EnigmasRawr) March 18, 2020

I feel personally attacked amid this tweet. https://t.co/A2UmqWvqu2

— Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) March 19, 2020

“During” sitting around waiting for the media to stop using “amid”. pic.twitter.com/kgWwxDlcRO

— Matt Zinck (@MattyZed) March 21, 2020

But while we were all distracted amid our obsession with "amid," the word's twin went unnoticed. It begs the question, why aren't we using "amidst."

me: let's spice things up and go with "amidst"my editors: immediately change it back to "amid" https://t.co/RkA46k2YWQ

— Alexis Egeland (@alexis_egeland) March 19, 2020

Or we could just go back to using boring, old fashioned "during":

May I offer the more friendly, more approachable “during” https://t.co/sleqWhuHEQ

— Lauren Aguirre🏡🌵 (@laurencaguirre) March 19, 2020

One thing is for sure, we need a thesaurus:

Can you recommend an acceptable synonym for “amid”? Overused. #journalismproblem #coronagrammar

— Randall E. King (@randalleking) March 19, 2020