Ruby is an interesting data point. I only know the basics, but I've never thought of it being particularly weird, except maybe for its emphasis on runtime refl

Ruby is an interesting data point. I only know the basics, but I've never thought of it being particularly weird, except maybe for its emphasis on runtime reflection and "monkey-patching", and yes, the vocabulary, which I believe partially stems from its creator being Japanese. It's still a fairly niche language, and I believe Ruby on Rails has had a lot to do with whatever popularity it has garnered in the West.