# What do you call pre-COVID times? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 2, 2020, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983 "2020-12-02T04:45:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/1 "2020-12-02T04:45:55Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/2 "2020-12-02T04:59:37Z")
BthSHtF. Before the Shit Hit the Fan. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/3 "2020-12-02T05:04:46Z")
BC, before covid. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/4 "2020-12-02T05:14:52Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > BthSHtF A bit of a mouthful, but I really like this. For now, I use “The Before Times” using the requisite capitalization, of course. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/5 "2020-12-02T05:17:12Z")
I use “Before times” when I’m being less serious but I actually use “pre-covid” all the time. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/6 "2020-12-02T05:20:28Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/7 "2020-12-02T05:29:07Z")
It might just me being a motorsport nerd, but when I see BTCC, I read it as the British Touring Car Championship. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/8 "2020-12-02T05:31:51Z")
BVE & VE, meaning, of course, Before the Virus Era and the Virus Era. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/9 "2020-12-02T05:55:30Z")
I think of it as Pre-2020 ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/10 "2020-12-02T13:00:23Z")
Normal. Back when things were normal, what ever the hell normal means. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/11 "2020-12-02T13:25:42Z")
Previrous. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/12 "2020-12-02T13:28:29Z")
I refer to it as pre-pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/13 "2020-12-02T13:57:55Z")
The good old days. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/14 "2020-12-02T14:02:41Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/15 "2020-12-02T15:23:38Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/16 "2020-12-02T17:39:45Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![CorpusNeptune](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corpusneptune/32/17561_2.png) [@CorpusNeptune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CorpusNeptune)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/17 "2020-12-02T17:54:13Z")
I usually say “back when things were normal,” similar to @Si_Amigo’s response. -Baleaf ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/18 "2020-12-02T18:08:38Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/19 "2020-12-02T21:29:54Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > I use “Before times” when I’m being less serious but I actually use “pre-covid” all the time. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983/20 "2020-12-02T21:37:31Z")
> [@bump](#): > > 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”. 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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-pre-covid-times/926983.md?page=2)