brouhaha
ホールフーズマーケットが、従業員に英語のみを使用する様に求めていたのですが、その方針を変えました。
Whole Foods revises wording of English-only policy
The brouhaha began after two employees, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said they were suspended for complaining to a manager about a reprimand they had received for speaking Spanish to each other while on the job. Whole Foods said the two employees were suspended for poor behavior, not for speaking Spanish.
今回は、brouhahaという単語に注目してみたいと思います。少し変わった綴りをするなと思いつつ調べてみると、「《くだけて・やや古》〈…についての〉大騒ぎ,騒動」(『ウィズダム英和辞典 第二版』三省堂)という意味が定義されていました。
また、綴りに興味を持ったので語源についても調べてみると、"There is a bit of a brouhaha over the etymology of "brouhaha." Some etymologists think the word is onomatopoeic in origin, but others believe it comes from the Hebrew phrase "bārūkh habbā’," meaning "blessed be he who enters" (Psalms 118:26). Although we borrowed our spelling and meaning of "brouhaha" directly from French in the late 19th century, etymologists have connected the French derivation to that frequently recited Hebrew phrase, distorted to something like "brouhaha" by worshippers whose knowledge of Hebrew was limited. Thus, once out of the synagogue, the word first meant "a noisy confusion of sound" -- a sense that was later extended to refer to any tumultuous and confused situation."(Merriam-Webster Online)と定義されていました。オノマトペと考える人がいる一方、綴りはフランス語から来ており、さらにその語源はヘブライ語にあると考える人など、いくつか説があるようです。(Astroriver)
