Health Services

A New York Times reporter in August of 2020 coined the term twindemic to describe the concern for an increase in both flu (influenza) and COVID-19 during the winter months of 2020.  The good news is that a twindemic never occurred in 2020 but the word stuck. Twindemic is a portmanteau word. A portmanteau is when words are blended together to form a new meaning. The words are not combined together like starfish but rather are a mash of words. The word smog is a portmanteau mash up of smoke and fog that has become part of our vernacular.

As Christmas music and movies play continuously on some stations, we might hear the song released on October 24, 1934 called “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.”  This song was first written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie and has been recorded by over 200 different artists. Some of the more well-known artists include Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Buble´ and Mariah Carey.  In 2014, an a cappella version was released by Pentatonix. Many children are reminded of the lyrics “he’s making a list and checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.” 

This famous song is not the only reference to naughty or nice. In 2012, the Hallmark Channel helped produce a Christmas television movie titled Naughty or Nice. This movie has not quite become a classic but some may remember it. The premise of the movie is that Santa’s book listing all of the naughty and nice children ends up in the hands of the character named Krissy Kringle and the book lists all these naughty things that she now knows.