Fauci ouchie

9.9

A playful name for getting a coronavirus vaccine or the sticker given after the shot

noun
/ˈfaʊtʃi ˈaʊtʃi/

Slang

: vacuna

She wore her Fauci ouchie sticker to encourage others to get vaccinated.

Examples

After getting my Fauci ouchie, I posted a selfie with my vaccination sticker.
People made memes about their Fauci ouchie on Twitter during the vaccination rollout.
I just got my Fauci ouchie today!
Did you receive your Fauci ouchie yet?
After getting my Fauci ouchie, I posted a selfie with my vaccination sticker.
She wore her Fauci ouchie sticker to encourage others to get vaccinated.
People made memes about their Fauci ouchie on Twitter during the vaccination rollout.

Synonyms

vax

vsFauci ouchie

Informal

5 7.1

A short informal word for a shot that protects you from a virus

is specific to COVID-19 vaccination and often refers to getting it or the sticker

Surface Forms

Fauci ouchie singular

Fauci ouchies plural

Morphology

Fauci + ouchie

The phrase pairs the proper name 'Fauci' (a public health figure strongly associated with COVID-19 vaccines) with 'ouchie' (childlike word for a small pain), so a learner who knows both could plausibly infer it refers playfully to a vaccination/shot. However, the specific link to vaccination depends on cultural/world knowledge about Fauci and the informal, creative naming is not strictly compositional, so the sense is only partially predictable.

Etymology

The term Fauci ouchie grew during the COVID vaccine rollout when Fauci, the doctor many people saw on TV, was the face of the shots and ouchie meant the small sting and the tiny bandage or sticker people wore after the shot. One popular story says people showed their stickers in selfies, so Fauci ouchie came to mean 'the COVID-19 vaccine' or 'getting vaccinated'.