Covidiot: Here’s how you can not be one
The word Covidiot has taken over Twitter. If you do not know what it means, let us tell you.
If you are on Twitter in the past two days and have scrolled through the micro-blogging site, you would have seen the term #COVIDIOT trending. If you do not know what it means, do not worry, we are here to get you updated.
COVIDIOT is a mix of two terms: Covid-19 and idiot.
Since Twitter has been talking about Covid-19 (because that’s all anyone is talking about these days), and many have been pointing out people’s foolishness, Urban dictionary came up with a term to summarise all of it. It explains a covidiot as “Someone who ignores the warnings regarding public health or safety, or, a person who hoards goods, denying them from their neighbours”.
Another popular definition explains that a covidiot is:
1. A stupid person who stubbornly ignores ‘social distancing’ protocol, thus helping to further spread Covid-19.
2. A stupid person who hoards groceries needlessly spreading Covid-19 fears and depriving others of vital supplies.
Used in a sentence, someone could say, ‘Are you seriously going to visit grandma? Dude, don’t be such a covidiot,’ or ‘See that guy with the 200 toilet paper rolls? What a covidiot.’
So, in a nutshell, a covidiot is a person who goes against health advisories and does things that are being warned against. It includes going to markets and hoarding on food, going out in public and taking part in large gatherings. And, might we add, forwarding unverified messages on WhatsApp. At the current moment, the world is full of such people.
The internet is flooded with videos of people hoarding toilet paper and groceries, leaving very little or no daily need goods for people who are less fortunate or old. Remember those heartbreaking pics of old people looking at empty shelves?
Let’s talk about more examples of covidiocy. Since the novel coronavirus outbreak, people have been advised against stepping out of their homes and avoiding large public gatherings, right?
Now that you know exactly who a covidiot is, spread the knowledge.
And finally, here’s how you can not be a covidiot:
Avoid going out of your homes as much as possible.
Do not be part of public gatherings.
Do not hoard on groceries; leave for other, less fortunate people as well.
Do not forward unverified WhatsApp messages.
Now that you know exactly who a covidiot is, spread the knowledge.
We will get through this.
