Pre COVID the BBC was one of my top two news sources and I never noticed the word being used until the anti vaxxers in the states started calling the COVID vaccine “the jab.”
It’s not entirely a coincidence. Many of the “US anti-vaxxers” were foreign operatives that learned UK English. That included (among other things) slang terms like jab.
In the context of the US, “the jab” stands out in a way that never did in the UK. Once you see it, it’s hard to unsee.
Pre COVID the BBC was one of my top two news sources and I never noticed the word being used until the anti vaxxers in the states started calling the COVID vaccine “the jab.”
It’s not entirely a coincidence. Many of the “US anti-vaxxers” were foreign operatives that learned UK English. That included (among other things) slang terms like jab.
In the context of the US, “the jab” stands out in a way that never did in the UK. Once you see it, it’s hard to unsee.