"Vax" is Oxford English Dictionary's Word of the Year
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
Eugene, Oregon
November 1, 2021 9:59am CST
Furthermore, it can be used as a noun or a verb and the CNN article I read about this word, says it first appeared in the 1980s as a noun. I wonder who came up with then and in what contest it was used?
Many people around the world have been vexed about "vax," whether to take it or to shun science and stand their ground against a disease that has killed, according to Johns Hopkins University's Covid tracker.
The US will soon start vaccinating children of ages 5 to 11, maybe even this week, Yes, it has been tested on kids that age and is found to be safe and effective. When my daughter was a baby and her doctor was telling us all abut the many vaccines needed for children, I was scared about signing the consent forms. But I did and she was safe from many serious diseases.
I applaud the people who let their children be among those tested for the Covid vaccine.
9 people like this
10 responses
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
1 Nov 21
The VAX was a popular mainframe computer back in the '80s. A little later, I believe, it became a shortened form of 'vacuum', used as a verb, though not very commonly. In England, the more common verb was 'to hoover' (after a popular brand of vacuum cleaner at the time) and is still used very commonly.
'Vax' used as a noun or verb meaning 'a vaccine' or 'to vaccinate' doesn't seem to be very widely used here in the UK.
3 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
1 Nov 21
I recall "to hoover" and here it was used to describe someone who eats voraciously too.
@LadyDuck (471253)
• Switzerland
2 Nov 21
@JamesHxstatic I think that the best is to see the personal doctor and ask for a full checkup just to be sure that we will not be one of those cases where the vaccine will kill us.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
2 Nov 21
@LadyDuck I have never done that myself.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
1 Nov 21
Yes, there are more risks without vaccines than with them.
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16755)
• China
19 Nov 21
I didn't know vax is short for vaccines before.We have begun to get booster shots.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
19 Nov 21
That's great! Soon, boosters will be available to everyone over 18 here, maybe this week.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (50179)
• United States
2 Nov 21
Being an Air Force Brat I was stuck left and right, so this vaccine was not frightening. Actually I was very happy to get it and we’ve had the booster too .
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (50179)
• United States
2 Nov 21
@JamesHxstatic Every time I turned around we had to roll our sleeve up. I know it was because we were overseas a lot.
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@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
2 Nov 21
@Tampa_girl7 Of course, my wife had to get all those too, teaching overseas in Turkey and Germany.
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
2 Nov 21
Right, I suspect anyone that had been in the service would think nothing of one shot when I recall getting multiple shots in both arms on the same day.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (79648)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
3 Nov 21
I am not surprised that the word is now well-known. That was the problem in Latvia now that people did not get vaxed and now the have declared a state of emergency so I wrote about that
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (79648)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
3 Nov 21
@JamesHxstatic right and they are on lockdown for 3 months so there goes Christmas
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
3 Nov 21
Sorry to hear about the emergency. I know Russia has had a recent lockdown.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (339433)
• Rockingham, Australia
2 Nov 21
VAX here would be more likely to refer to a brand of vacuum cleaner. I hope there are no repercussions from the vaccine. Just occasionally, a child will react in a way that it shouldn't. But I would still be getting my children vaccinated.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (339433)
• Rockingham, Australia
3 Nov 21
@JamesHxstatic Young parents have no idea how awful some diseases are, like polio or diphtheria but my parents lived in fear of such diseases and I guess some of that passed on to us.
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@snowy22315 (180361)
• United States
5 Nov 21
It doesn't really surprise me it is a popular word in common discourse these days
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@Marilynda1225 (82690)
• United States
1 Nov 21
I also applaud the parents who let their children test the vaccine. Hopefully we'll continue to get rid of this horrible virus.
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@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
1 Nov 21
Yes, that would be a difficult decision.
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