The Internet lost its mind this week when actress Anne Hathaway used the phrase “Inshallah” in an interview. Why is this significant? Because it adds an Arabic word into common phraseology that has not been there before.
Arabic speakers know this word intimately. It means “if God wills it.” Think of how English speakers add the words “hopefully” or “God willing” to their sentences and you get the idea.
Foreign languages slip into English all the time. Americans say “oy vey,” the Hebrew expression for frustration, or “c’est la vie,” the French phrase meaning “that’s life,” without thinking twice.
But English speakers don’t casually drop Arabic phrases the way they do Spanish or French, even though Arabic is already baked into the language through words like algebra, coffee, and alcohol.
So why is it noticeable when it is used in pop culture now? I have two theories.
One theory, the more cynical one, is that Hollywood is trying to cater to those that might be boycotting their movies.
The other, less cynical, is that Anne Hathaway is expressing a popular sentiment of solidarity with the Arab world because that is increasingly fashionable.
Either way, it doesn’t feel neutral. It feels connected to conflict, to identity, to everything people are already watching and arguing about regarding Arab nations.
That reaction isn’t really about one word. It’s about when a culture becomes visible and why.
The post Why “Inshallah” Hit a Nerve appeared first on Redacted.
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