On Monday the US National Weather Service reported on its Lubbock Texas Facebook page that a ‘haboob’ was approaching the local airport and might affect the city as well.
For those not aware, haboob is an African/Arabic term to describe a dust-storm, and Lubbock is a town of 250,000 in northwest Texas.
“Haboob!?! I’m a Texan. Not a foreigner from Iraq or Afghanistan. They might have haboobs but around here in the Panhandle of TEXAS, we have Dust Storms. So would you mind stating it that way. I’ll find another weather service,” John Fullbright wrote.
“In Texas, nimrod, this is called a sandstorm. We’ve had them for years! If you would like to move to the Middle East you can call this a haboob. While you reside here, call it a sandstorm. We Texans will appreciate you,” Brenda Daffern added.
The comments, reported in the Washington Post, appear to have since been deleted. In any case, they were overwhelmed by positive comments.
“To all of you people complaining about a word. Do you all realize how stupid y'all look? I mean, the rest of the country and the world is laughing at y'all,” Charles Russell wrote.
“The word ‘Texas’ [is] Spanish. So could you find another place to live too?” David Worthington commented. “Do Texans also get upset when they hear the words taco, fajita, and churro?” Scott Moon added.
“Thanks to all the idiots that make the rest of us from Lubbock look bad...seriously, this is pathetic,” Tyler Hudson wrote.
It's not the first time the term Haboob has been used to describe sandstorms in the area. On Weather used the term with little apparent reaction last year.
Haboob, of course, isn’t the only foreign word to be used to describe weather events. Hurricane, tornado and El Niño are all of Spanish origin.
The Oxford Dictionary notes that many common words have Arabic origins, such as coffee, sugar, and sofa.
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