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Things like this make me remember once I was told I should stop using the word “ojala” in Spanish (which means hopefully) because I was christian in a christian
by f1shy 2y ago
Things like this make me remember once I was told I should stop using the word “ojala” in Spanish (which means hopefully) because I was christian in a christian culture, and that word comes from “oh Alla” (o God, with Islam background) and that can be insulting to both christians ans islamic people. My opinion on that, is that it is a big pile of BS. I will keep using that word, because now it has a well defined, well understood meaning.
So even if I greatly respect this guy when he talks tech, in this case, sorry, no. Big no.
- debugnik 2y ago"Ojalá" has been Spanish for centuries, it's an ordinary word. Most of the Iberian Peninsula once was under Arab rule, parts of it for 700+ years, so of course our ancestors borrowed some vocabulary from them. More specifically, checking the etymology, "ojalá" seems related to the (old?) Arab idiom "wa sha Allah" (transliterations differ), roughly meaning "and God willing", which matches an equivalent Spanish idiom. I can't see how this has ever been insulting at any point in history. Honestly, I think your colleague is virtue signalling hard.