Do you know what it means if you're a victim of "Fauci-ing"? Don't worry—neither did the man the term is named after, until Axios filled him in. Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke with the site's managing editor, Margaret Talev, as part of its "Axios on HBO" series, and Talev brought up a fairly recent addition to the Urban Dictionary. "There is actually a term in dating now called 'Fauci-ing' someone," she noted. "Do you know what that means?" The married 80-year-old didn't, and so Talev gave him the scoop: "It means cutting off a relationship if you don't think that that other person is serious enough about social distancing and taking the pandemic seriously." Fauci seemed to get a kick out of that, replying with a laugh, "I'm gonna Fauci you."
At least one other meaning has also been attributed to the verb, per Science: "to immediately amend or correct statements made by authority figures who misrepresent or overstate findings," as in, "The graduate student was Fauci-ing at the podium, shoving aside the principal investigator to accurately explain the implications of the results they obtained." Meanwhile, dating app Plenty of Fish has other pandemic-related terms that it's applying to relationships, as detailed by KKIQ, including "maskerading" (trying to get dates by pretending you believe in wearing face masks and following other safety protocols) and "apocalypsing," which involves acting like every relationship is your last and "getting too serious too quick." (More Anthony Fauci stories.)
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