Coronavirus has brought up many new words and terms. Some of these might be confusing for second language speakers, so let’s have a look at some of these thanks to the Instagram stories that Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has published last Sunday.

Tampon! or swab?

This could be a big issue for Italians: how do you call the test that the doctor performs taking a sample of your saliva? Think before you speak: this is a tampon! Did you mean swab?

From AOC’s story, we see that you can have a nasal swab, or a blood test.

She also mentions mild symptoms, which means you got a light reaction, and not a severe illness.

AOC is very active and helps people in her district in person. Here she is showing people queuing (check the pronounciation of the verb queue!) for food. She calls it the ‘food pantry line’, as this is not prepared food, but food to store in the pantry.

Do you have a pantry in your house?