For the first time ever today I heard the word endemic used as a noun in the context that we are moving into an endemic. The phrase jarred, and still does, but there's a kind of logic involved, isn't there? After all, we worry about being caught in an epidemic, and we're living through a pandemic. So, by extension, we should get ready for the endemic.
No, sorry, it still jars. But if it catches on here, and I can see a real possibility of that, I can imagine it sounding perfectly natural to these ears after a year or so. After all, I can now live with characters in a novel being relatable and not flinch, or reach for the red pen.
(By the way, if you reach for a dictionary you're likely to find 'endemic' accepted as a noun - after its primary classification as an adjective - but in quite a different context to the above. But funnily enough, I don't think I've ever actually heard it used as a noun even in the context in which various authorities say it's allowed.)
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