YouTubers Arin Hanson (Egoraptor) and Leigh Daniel (Dan) Avidan, the hosts of YouTube gaming show, “Game Grumps,” have coined a new term to describe COVID-19.

On March 31, 2020, just when COVID-19 cases started to rise, Hanson and Avidan began a YouTube playthrough of Super Mario Galaxy 2. Avidan started the playthrough video wanting to discuss the most recent news, cheerfully welcoming fans only to be cut off by Hanson.

“Hello, and welcome to our very first episode of ‘Game Grumps’ that has been recorded since this great…”

“You can’t say it!” Hanson interrupted.

“Really?” Avidan asked, sounding confused.

“Yeah, you get demonetized.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah… so… I… We can say that… you know, we can talk about it, but we can’t say the, like, the words, you know?” Hanson said.

Hanson and Avidan soon realized that they needed to come up with a new term for the virus, and fast.

“How the hell are we not supposed to talk about that?” Avidan wondered. “It’s dominating everyone’s life.”

Thinking quickly on his feet, he said, “Okay… so anyway… obviously I’m talking about the Backstreet Boys reunion tour.”

“Everybody’s talking about it,” Hanson replied. “I mean it’s affecting everyone’s lives.”

Now that the Grumps had a term to use instead of COVID-19, they decided to run with it.

“Don’t go looking for those tickets,” they would say, as code for “try not to put yourself in a position where you might catch it and end up sick.”

Those who contracted the virus were said to be “at the concert.”

Surprisingly, the term “Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour” ended up in the Urban Dictionary.

“In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which occurred in the spring of 2020, the YouTube gods attempted to crack down on the hysteria by demonetizing content that contained the word ‘Corona,’ ‘Virus,’ or ‘19’ in any variation, especially in that specific succession,” the Urban Dictionary entry read. “So in an effort to avoid divine punishment, humanity made the collective decision (headed by Dan Avidan of the Game Grumps) to henceforth refer to the virus only as the ‘Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour.’”

Hanson voiced his frustration with those not adhering to COVID-19 restrictions, emphasizing that he and his wife were taking necessary precautions.

“It makes me angry when people don’t take the Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour seriously,“ Hanson said.

“They closed Disneyland because they knew that they couldn’t compete with the ticket count that the Backstreet Boys sell!” Avidan chimed in.

“If every person who went to the Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour ended up at Disneyland… imagine how many tickets they would sell!” Hanson said.

“It would be the highest grossing ticket sale of all time,” Avidan responded.

While anxiety over COVID-19 remains high around the world, the Game Grumps found a lighthearted way to give advice on how to stay safe during the pandemic. They struck a good balance between providing serious advice and facts and entertaining their audience. Do not forget to wash your hands, wear a mask and distance yourself from others. You do not want to catch those tickets!