kung flu

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Blend of kung fu +‎ flu, in reference to the disease's presumed origin in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.

Noun

kung flu (uncountable)

  1. (humorous, offensive) Synonym of COVID-19. [2020]
    • 2020 February 20, headline, Chattanooga Times Free Press:
      Hart: Kung Flu Virus will blow over
    • 2020 June 23, Eliza Relman, quoting Donald Trump, “White House press secretary says Trump's racist 'kung flu' comment was 'linking' the coronavirus 'to its place of origin'”, in Business Insider‎:
      "By the way, it's a disease, without question, has more names than any other in history. I can name, ‘kung flu,’ I can name, 19 different versions of names," Trump said.
    • 2021 May 25, Simon Walters, “PM 'wanted to be infected with Covid on live TV, called virus Kung-Flu and was slow to act because he was on holiday with Carrie'”, in Daily Mail:
      A source close to Mr Cummings said: 'From March through to the autumn, the PM said we should never have locked down. That was why he was so reluctant to do it again in November.' He said, 'the big danger is not Kung-Flu but the harm caused in trying to stop it.'

Usage notes

Particularly in the United States, the use of Kung Flu and similar terms became associated with President Trump after he coined the phrase to pin the blame for the spread of COVID-19 on the Chinese government. Critics, including the Chinese government, have said these terms were racist, stigmatizing, and part of a strategy to minimize the threat posed by the coronavirus.

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