Giggles, snickers and some awkwardness greeted Facebook’s decision to change its corporate name to Meta.
Jokesters poked fun at Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, because “meta” is pronounced like the feminine form of the Hebrew word for “dead,”, according to the Times of Israel.
“In Hebrew, *Meta* means *Dead*,” Dr. Nirit Weiss-Blatt, a tech expert, tweeted on Thursday. “The Jewish community will ridicule this name for years to come.”
In Hebrew, *Meta* means *Dead*
The Jewish community will ridicule this name for years to come.— Nirit Weiss-Blatt, PhD (@DrTechlash) October 28, 2021
Other social media users piled on.
Meta means “dead” in Hebrew (feminine adjective).
Mark Zuckerberg must have slept through Hebrew class. pic.twitter.com/B7W9273EGK— Emmanuel Navon עמנואל נבון ?? (@emmanuelnavon) October 28, 2021
The funniest thing that happened was the creation of META
Make Everything Trump Again
Mark Zuckerberg is likely kicking stuff around the office right now
Oh, and BTW, #meta means “dead” in HebrewZuck must’ve been asleep that day during religion class#MakeEverythingTrumpAgain pic.twitter.com/ewGV5M2cUT
— Lisa Ann Michael ??????????????? (@TheBronxxKid44) October 29, 2021
Facebook changing their corporate name to Meta isn’t going to change the underlying facts. They’re a monopoly. They crush competition. And they refuse to control the spread of misinformation and harmful content on their site. We need to break up Facebook. pic.twitter.com/Gha9PUxAoz
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) October 29, 2021
We are very honoured that @facebook felt inspired by the logo of our migraine app – maybe they’ll get inspired by our data privacy procedures as well ? ?
#dataprivacy #meta #facebook pic.twitter.com/QY7cota36r— M-sense Migräne (@msense_app) October 29, 2021
Zuckerberg said the name Facebook does not cover “everything we do” at a time when his empire includes Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, its Quest VR headset, its Horizon VR platform and more. Zuckerberg explained that the metaverse is a form of the virtual world where everyone is connected by virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses and phone apps.
Sounds chic. But the label? Aye, there’s the rub.
In Portuguese and Spanish, the word is not so troubling because it means “goal.” In Brazil, however, the word has a sexual connotation, according to Bloomberg.
Zuckerberg’s announcement was a boon for Nova Scotia-based Meta Materials. The company’s stock rose 26 percent in after-hours trading on Thursday, when Zuckerberg made his announcement, and another 6 percent on Friday, according to Reuters.
George Palikaras, the CEO of Meta Materials, tweeted a metaverse welcome to Facebook.
On behalf of @Metamaterialtec I would like to cordially welcome @Facebook to the #metaverse. #GoBeyond $MMAT #AR #VR Meta, meet META® 🙂 https://t.co/8gOgkYTvSl pic.twitter.com/2i2PMKwzFA
— George Palikaras (@palikaras) October 28, 2021
Name changes can often fail in translation.
Kentucky Fried Chicken learned that when it entered the Chinese market in the 1980s, according to the BBC.
The restaurant’s “finger lickin’ good” motto, when translated into Mandarin, came out “eat your fingers off.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.