- Quarantine’s substitution for ‘mean’ works because the two words rhyme, and since quarantine is the timeframe the “meanwhile” would be referring to, the meaning becomes inferrable. There’s an added layer of comedy in the absurdity of the invented word, even though the meaning behind the word is quite clear and even potentially very literal.
Quarantinewhile
adjective Blending and clipping.
An unusual or funny occurrence that came about during or because of the 2020 Coronavirus quarantine.
Etymology : From the words quarantine and meanwhile. The word was formed to title a segment on the CBS show, Late Night with Stephen Colbert. Quarantinewhile replaced his previous segment on funny new stories called “Meanwhile” when the United States went on lockdown for the Coronavirus. Soon the term was being used outside the context of the show to refer to funny occurrences during the lockdown.
Source : “Quarantinewhile, according to a new survey a surprising number of young Americans say they have never seen a cow in person” (Late Night with Stephen Colbert, 11-11-2020).
Last modified: 26 November 2020