the.com/zoom

The app that turned 'you're on mute' into the most spoken sentence of 2020.

means To move very fast, or to video-call someone over the internet (now also the generic name for hopping on a webcam meeting).

from Zoom started as plain old sound-symbolism — 'zoom' has been used since the early 1900s to mimic the rising buzz of an engine or a plane climbing fast, the word itself sounding like what it describes. Camera lenses borrowed it mid-century for the rushing sensation of a shot pulling closer. The video-call company, founded in 2011, borrowed that same sense of speed and closeness for its name — then the pandemic turned the brand into a verb, the way 'Google' or 'Hoover' once did.

name origin
Founder Eric Yuan wanted something fast and simple
pandemic boost
Daily meeting participants jumped from 10 million to 300 million
fatigue effect
Scientists coined 'Zoom fatigue' as an actual studied phenomenon
ironic truth
Built for business, broke records hosting virtual happy hours
the.com · every word