As US Senator Lindsey Graham faces backlash for stating that "everything that starts with 'Al' in the Middle East is bad news" we've decided to give him a little language lesson...
This just in: the stupidity of a man named Lindsey Graham (yes, Lindsey), a United States senator, has been confirmed. No but really, this guy made a pretty bold and ridiculously ignorant statement at a dinner in Boston on Monday, proudly boasting that "Everything that starts with 'Al' in the Middle East is bad news."
A bunch of English words that are very common today have been derived from our rich Arabic language. He obviously doesn’t know this, but we’ve picked out a few of the big ones that start with ‘Al’. Maybe we should e-mail this to his secretary.
Alchemy: this word was derived from the Arabic “al-kīmiyā”. Meaning in particular "studies about substances through which the generation of gold and silver may be artificially accomplished."
Alcohol: Yes Lindsey, that’s right: even what you were probably drinking and heavily under the influence of the night you spoke that phrase is derived from the Arabic language. The word is "al-kohl" to be precise.
Algebra: Derived from the Arabic word “al-jabr” it translates to “completing, or restoring broken parts.” We believe the formula for the senator would go something like: Lindsey + Graham – brain = stupid senator.
Algorithim: We’re still trying to figure out the algorithm to Graham’s logic but don’t wait on us for that one. It comes from the word “al-khwārizmī” which means “from Khwarizm” referring to the great mathematician Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī.
Anyway those are just a few of dozens and dozens of English words which were born because of the Arabic language. Maybe Senator Graham should propose a bill to ban these words from the English language if he’s that serious. Hell, while you’re at it, why don’t you ask Obama to nuke Alabama and Albuquerque?