Are we physically or socially distancing? We live our lives through language, so how we describe an issue effects what we can say, think, feel and do. Should we call self-isolation "physical distancing" rather than "social distancing"? Why does it even matter when people are dying?

There has been much talk about the terminology of 'social distancing' (e.g. here and here, among other discussions around 'social' and 'physical' distancing). This focus on language draws attention to the argument that how we describe an issue can impact on how we think, talk, feel and act about that issue. This idea is the bedrock for discourse analyst psychologists, who have long argued that we live our lives in, through, and with language.

Language is deeply tied to power – we can thank poststructuralist philosopher and cultural historian Michel Foucault (1926-84) for some early insights into the effects of language in society, highlighting that the words we use to describe our actions have an impact on what is possible.

If we are physically distancing and not social distancing, hopefully we can stay socially connected - acknowledging the person we are crossing the road to avoid when we take our walk or prioritising a phone call to someone we know who is living on their own.

What Foucault might think or say about the surveillance that accompanies COVID-19 measures (and the ways in which people are carrying out surveilling actions), is, however perhaps a future topic.