Facebook’s New Name Means ‘Dead’ in Hebrew

While the announcement that Facebook is changing its name to Meta has become a hot topic of conversation in the United States, it doesn’t compare to the buzz it’s generated in Israel.

That’s because “meta” sounds just like the Hebrew word for “dead,” the BBC reports.

Specifically, the rebranded social media site’s name sounds like the feminine form of the Hebrew word, per the agency.

Mark Zuckerberg said the new name comes from the Greek word for “beyond,” and better represents the company, now.  While the name of the social media app won’t change, Zuckerberg announced, Thursday, that Meta will represent the company brand covering Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and more.  He said, “We are a company that builds technology to connect people.  Facebook was born at a specific time, a college campus, the web.  Increasingly it just doesn’t encompass everything we do.”

See more, here:  (The Sun)

The news doesn’t mark the first time a U.S. company’s message has been lost in translation.

When KFC expanded to China, in the 1980’s, the translation of the motto “finger lickin’ good” ended up reading “eat your fingers off,” in Chinese.

And the 2011 introduction of Nokia‘s Lumia phone in Germany fell flat because “lumia” means “prostitute” in German.

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