First we were told to stay alert to Covid 19 – how is being ‘vigilant’ different?
over 4 years in The guardian
UK government messaging has swapped out ‘alert’ for ‘vigilant’ in the face of the Delta variant
A year ago, UK citizens were told to “stay alert” in case Covid-19 crept up on them from behind. That having been such a success, we are now told that, with the new Indian variant threatening to derail plans to end the lockdown completely, we ought to be “vigilant”. What’s the difference?
In Latin, vigil means awake, and vigilare to stay awake. So a vigil, in English since the 14th century, is a period of watchfulness and concentration, originally religious (devotional rites, or a “wake” for the dead), but then potentially secular too. (As Alexander Pope described a crowd of scholars: “With studies pale, with midnight-vigils blind”.) Continue reading...
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