I’ve found myself saying things like “after the world ended, we had to…” or “in the before times, we could…”
Today, mom asked me about something and I started off by saying “Back in the before days, X was…” Mom said people usually don’t say someone has died, they say things like “he’s passed on” and stuff so it sounds like I’m in mourning. (I probably am)
Am I being weird (again) or do other folks use the same euphemisms?
BthSHtF. Before the Shit Hit the Fan.
BC, before covid.
A bit of a mouthful, but I really like this. For now, I use “The Before Times” using the requisite capitalization, of course.
I use “Before times” when I’m being less serious but I actually use “pre-covid” all the time.
At work, I wind up referring to Covid Times as “the Current Circumstances” a lot. I have, from time to time, used “Before the Current Circumstances.” BTCC, I suppose.
Not at work, I use just “Before,” sometimes, or “Before Covid,” or if I’m feeling apocalyptic, “the Before Times,” or “in the Before.”
It might just me being a motorsport nerd, but when I see BTCC, I read it as the British Touring Car Championship.
BVE & VE, meaning, of course, Before the Virus Era and the Virus Era.
I think of it as Pre-2020
Normal. Back when things were normal, what ever the hell normal means.
Previrous.
I refer to it as pre-pandemic.
The good old days.
I use “plague” instead of “pandemic” and add pre-, “before the”, post-, and “after the” as needed. Everyone knows what I mean and so it is not mistaken for the Black Death, and it’s one syllable instead of three.
The before-fore times from Rick and Morty.
…no one around here gets it though.
ETA: By ‘here’ I mean the real life people I interact with. I’m sure you fake life people get it.
Usually “before COVID” or “before the pandemic”.
I feel a little bit absurd saying 'the Before times" or anything like that; it gives me a sort of willies that makes me think about those teenagers in the canyon in “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” talking about the “poxy-clypse”.
I usually say “back when things were normal,” similar to @Si_Amigo’s response.
-Baleaf
I just say “The Before” but it’s much more common to say “Before Times”, so I’m almost ready to give up the fight.
For me it’s just “pre-COVID” whether serious or not. I hope some day to add “Post-COVID” to my vocabulary.
I’m saving “Before times” and similar terms for when widespread political violence begins in the USA.
Yeah, I’ll use “The Before Times” when not being super-serious as a direct reference to that film. Otherwise I’d probably just say Pre-COVID.