Well clearly language popularity is a more complex beast than mere aesthetics. I'm only saying they do play a part, and probably a bigger part than most admit.

Well clearly language popularity is a more complex beast than mere aesthetics. I'm only saying they do play a part, and probably a bigger part than most admit. As for js in particular, I'd personally argue that it's "merely plain or average" to php's "plug ugly." Although I wouldn't fight too hard for that point, and I'd note that many people who do serious js development actually do have a big problem with how it looks, and write exclusively in coffeescript.