The Brief: "The Rona" or "Rona" are colloquial terms that Black social media users gave to the widespread Coronavirus which are now heavily used within younger generations such as Millennials or Gen Zers.
DEEP DIVE
Black Twitter users (Millennials and Gen Zers) are beginning to refer to the Coronavirus as “The Rona” or “Rona” just like how many people have done in the past by developing slang terms for illnesses.
These two shortened identifiers for the Coronavirus are a byproduct of social media and how it’s users tend to transform longer medical terms into shorter ones that are more digestible for younger audiences. Typically used on Twitter, the term “Rona” has a more lighthearted tone for social media users rather than the more daunting Coronavirus or COVID-19 medical terminology.
“The Rona/Rona” in action:
How America tryna guard the rona pic.twitter.com/FW3FOi7AQu
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) March 20, 2020
The rona once it’s mixed with the pollen: pic.twitter.com/7i5uD0TwL5
— 29 Savage (@DeuceNineFlame) March 20, 2020
if he’s out during the rona he cheats
— peg queen (@rsewtrr) March 20, 2020
Ready for the Rona pic.twitter.com/UhyQOpfruU
— MC REN (@realmcren) March 20, 2020
time to eliminate the rona pic.twitter.com/KomA1XMvja
— rafa ☔️ (@ralphygz) March 20, 2020
u ain’t catchin me with the rona pic.twitter.com/OCiChVvIgU
— Cats (@SpaceCatPics) March 12, 2020
Me at Tito’s concert after the Rona wipes us out pic.twitter.com/sOQUD1oI9Q
— 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 ✧ (@ange1m__) March 17, 2020
“Boomer Remover” is another term that refers to “the Rona”:
The Gen Z kids are calling the Rona, the “boomer remover” pic.twitter.com/A7s2YPRf7S
— The Melanin Godmother (@Danaforfvcksake) March 13, 2020