by David Safier
You know those recent dust storms in Phoenix? The term for them is "haboob," and from what I've read, this phenomenon is limited to the southwest, the Middle East and the North Africa.
Apparently, some folks think A-mur-i-kan dust storms shouldn't be called by them furren names. Adam Serwer of the American Prospect is on it.
“I am insulted that local TV news crews are now calling this kind of storm a haboob,” Don Yonts, a resident of Gilbert, Ariz., wrote to The Arizona Republic after a particularly fierce, mile-high dust storm swept through the state on July 5. “How do they think our soldiers feel coming back to Arizona and hearing some Middle Eastern term?”
Serwer goes on to list some other words with Arabic origins which, like haboob, should probably be stricken from our vocabulary, lest they lead us astray:
- sofa
- Admiral
- mattress
- magazine
- cotton
- buddy
So put down that magazine, buddy, get your ass up off the sofa and help us fight against Sharia-law-words infiltrating our precious, patriotic A-mur-i-kan language!
(h/t to AZ Blue Meanie for the link.)