The language we speak amid COVID-19

The language we speak shapes our perceptions of reality. In this paper, we shed light on the fact that by inventing and normalizing phrases such as the “UK variant”, “Chinese virus”, or the “Spanish flu”, along with the widespread use of war metaphors, we are not only endorsing narratives that could undermine international collaborations and deepen divisions within society, harming people's mental health, but also distracting the public's attention from the most important issue amid pandemics—how to stall or stem transmission in a timely matter. Furthermore, we also make a call to action for media professionals, health experts, and government officials to stop creating and popularizing discriminative terms related to COVID-19 and future outbreaks, so that we can reduce the divisions between societies and better focus on controlling pandemics.