{"id":1400990,"date":"2022-03-25T17:29:53","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T21:29:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1400990"},"modified":"2022-03-25T17:29:58","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T21:29:58","slug":"fact-check-is-the-word-alcohol-derived-from-an-arabic-word-meaning-body-eating-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-is-the-word-alcohol-derived-from-an-arabic-word-meaning-body-eating-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Is The Word \u2018Alcohol\u2019 Derived From An Arabic Word Meaning \u2018Body-Eating Spirit\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-is-the-word-alcohol-derived-from-an-arabic-word-meaning-body-eating-spirit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1400990&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>A post <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/2cyvf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shared on Facebook<\/a> claims the word \u201calcohol\u201d derived from the Arabic word \u201cal-kuhl,\u201d meaning \u201cbody-eating spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: Misleading<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>While the word \u201calcohol\u201d is derived from the Arabic word \u201cal-kuhl,\u201d the word does not mean \u201cbody-eating spirits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Fact Check:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Facebook <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/2cyvf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">post<\/a> claims that the word \u201calcohol\u201d originates from the Arabic term \u201cal-kuhl,\u201d which it alleges means \u201cbody-eating spirit.\u201d The post also claims the word \u201ckuhl\u201d stems from the word \u201cghoul,\u201d which means \u201can evil demon\u201d that is used to corrupt and feed off human bodies, \u201cspecifically children and stolen corpses,\u201d according to the post.<\/p>\n<p>While \u201calcohol\u201d is derived from the Arabic word, \u201cal-kuhl, \u201d according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/word\/alcohol#etymonline_v_8117\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Online Etymology Dictionary<\/a>, there is no evidence the phrase has any relation to \u201cbody-eating spirits\u201d The word has roots in both Medieval Latin and Arabic, the dictionary lists. \u201cAl-\u201d is listed as the definite article for the word \u201cthe,\u201d while \u201ckohl\u201d is described as \u201cthe fine metallic powder used to darken the eyelids,\u201d according to the dictionary. There is notably no mention of any \u201cbody-eating\u201d spirits.<\/p>\n<p>The word \u201cghoul\u201d has no correlation to the word \u201ckuhl\u201d or \u201calcohol,\u201d though it does derive from the Arabic word \u201cghul,\u201d which means \u201cdemon,\u201d according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/word\/ghoul#etymonline_v_6063\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dictionary<\/a>. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2021\/03\/31\/fact-check-astrazeneca-mean-weapon-that-kill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Does Astrazeneca Mean \u2018Weapon That Kills\u2019?)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/from-alcohol-to-sugar-words-with-arabic-roots\/a-43680397\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">article<\/a> published by German outlet Deutsche Welle titled \u201cFrom alcohol to sugar: Words with Arabic roots,\u201d German philologist Andreas Unger explains the word \u201ckuhl\u201d as \u201ca kind of powdered eyeliner made via an extraction or distillation process\u201d from natural minerals. The article also fails to mention any connection to \u201cbody-eating spirits\u201d or demons.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mesaas.columbia.edu\/faculty-directory\/taoufik-ben-amor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taoufik Ben-Amor<\/a>, a senior lecturer in Arabic Studies at Columbia University, told Check Your Fact via email that he claim shared on Facebook is incorrect. \u201cThe root for Al-KuHul is K-H-L (with a soft H) \u0627\u0644\u0643\u062d\u0648\u0644, whereas Ghoul is from GH-W-L \u063a\u0648\u0644,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A post shared on Facebook claims the word \u201calcohol\u201d derived from the Arabic word \u201cal-kuhl,\u201d meaning \u201cbody-eating spirit.\u201dVerdict: Misleading While the word \u201calcohol\u201d is derived from the Arabic word \u201cal-kuhl,\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1400990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1400990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1400990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1400990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1400990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}