re: #77 bratwurst

Is it just me, or is almost everyone who insists upon the antiquated spelling “Moslem” a fucking asshole?

“Muslim” is from Classical Arabic, which has only the extreme corners of the vowel triangle: “a”, “i”, and “u” (and the semivowels “y” and “w”). Levantine and North African dialects have developed “o” and “e” sounds over the centuries, and that’s where the European languages borrowed the term from.

Nowadays, Modern Standard Arabic is based as closely as possible on Classical Arabic, and that’s what we’re supposed to use in transliterating terms like that. I do my best to remember, but “Moslem” is what I learned growing up, so I probably forget and use it once in a while. I certainly don’t mean anything negative by it.