Linguistics of the government's Covid-19 communications strategy w/ Julia de Bres: March 1, 2022

Throughout the pandemic, the New Zealand government’s Covid-19 response has been one of the strongest in the world. But its communications strategy has not been as widely praised, with government advice inclung phrases such as “you’re good bro”, the “shot cuz” vaccination buses, and the infamous "Two Shots for Summer" campaign.

I spoke to Julia de Bres, a senior linguistics lecturer at Massey University, about the government's communication strategy, and their seemingly odd usage of Kiwi slang.