Friday March 29th, 2024
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Something Beginning with 'Al'

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...

Staff Writer

Something Beginning with 'Al'

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?