Ivvaċċinat to Gaħan - 10 Maltese words that we adopted in 2021

English dictionaries have crowned ‘vaccine’ and ‘vax’ as the words of the year. But in Malta, people found plenty of other things to talk about.

Sarah Carabott asked Michael Spagnol, Head of the University of Malta's Department of Maltese and the man behind Kelma Kelma, for 10 words that made it into the Maltese lexicon in 2021.

1. Ħaqalanqas

This ‘word’ slipped out of Minister Ian Borg’s mouth during a live broadcast towards the beginning of the year. While some claimed he was breaking the second commandment, others came to his defence saying that is not what he meant to say.

By the time the minister said he had been misinterpreted, it had already become a meme. Twelve months on it has become a household phrase.

2. Ivvaċċinat

Before 2021, most people would receive a tilqima (the Maltese derivative from Arabic), and we would nlaqqmu people or nitlaqqmu ourselves. Throughout the year, the word was quickly replaced with vaċċin and we have started using nivvaċċinaw.

The word started being used by a few people, mainly health experts, but just like the vaccination programme, it picked up speed and nowadays everyone uses the word, whether they’re vaccinated or not.

3.