Linguistic Misrepresentation in Pandemic Terminology: A Cognitive–Linguistic Critique of ‘Small Gatherings Cancellation’

This article identifies a terminological misrepresentation in the expression “small gatherings cancellation”—ranked by Haug et al. as the most effective non-pharmaceutical intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Corpus-based and theoretical analyses demonstrate that small gathering conventionally denotes a planned or spontaneous social event, while the predicate cancellation reinforces this event-based frame. Consequently, the phrase fails to capture the intended reference to restrictions on simultaneous presence in commercial or professional settings. Drawing on cognitive-linguistic theory and institutional usage from the WHO and CDC, this paper shows how such misrepresentation may trigger unintended conceptual frames, leading to interpretive ambiguity in both scholarly and policy contexts. Three alternatives are proposed to achieve better semantic alignment and enhance terminological precision and communicative clarity in future public-health discourse.