“Where’s the mask? Aren’t you supposed to be wearing one when you step outside?”
“It’s in my pocket. I was wearing it till I entered your apartment building.”
“That’s a relief. I thought the security guard had allowed you to breeze in without one.”
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“Let me breeze in without a mask? Does it mean enter the building?”
“Not exactly. When you ‘breeze in’, you enter a place in a very carefree manner. You walk in quickly and confidently. You’re sure no one is going to stop you. Here’s an example: As usual, the young teacher breezed in 20 minutes late.”
“How about this example? The manager breezed in and started ordering people around.”
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“Sounds good. It’s also possible to say ‘breeze into’. The students breezed into the auditorium and occupied every chair.”
“The ageing candidate breezed into the room and shook hands with everyone. Tell me, does the expression ‘breeze out’ exist? Is it frequently used?”
“People do use it. When you ‘breeze out’ of a place, you exit quickly; often, unexpectedly. Mahesh breezed out of the room without thanking his host.”
“That’s to be expected, I guess. Many of my classmates breeze into college late, and they breeze out whenever they feel like.”
“I hope you’re not like that. Thanks to the coronavirus, people have stopped....”
“Talking about the virus, what’s the difference between ‘epidemic’ and ‘pandemic’?”
It’s the spread
“First of all, the stress is on ‘dem’ in both words. The words are pronounced ‘e-pi-DEM-ic’ and ‘pan-DEM-ic’. In both cases, you’re talking about a disease that has affected a large number of people. What’s more, it spreads quickly from one person to another.”
“If that is the case, can the two words be used interchangeably?”
“No, not really. When you refer to a disease as being an ‘epidemic’, what you’re suggesting is that it’s localised. For example, when COVID-19 started spreading from Wuhan to the rest of China, it was still being referred to as an epidemic.”
“Because it was localised. The virus was basically a problem for the people in China.”
“Exactly! The spread was limited to China. But once it crossed the borders of China and spread to other countries and other continents...”
“It became a problem for the entire world. The virus became ‘pandemic’. So basically, what you’re saying is that when an epidemic spreads over a relatively large area, it becomes pandemic.”
“I guess you could say that! A pandemic is an epidemic that travels great distances. The World Health Organisation defines it as ‘the worldwide spread of a new disease’.”
“Let’s just hope COVID-19 stops spreading.”
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Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but never gets you anywhere. Erma Bombeck