The story
Ojalá goes back to Arabic law šā' Allāh, if God wills, from the centuries when much of Spain spoke Arabic. Spanish speakers use it with no religious weight at all, about the weather or an exam. English says hopefully, or fingers crossed.
ojalá
oh-hah-LAH[oxaˈla]
Pronunciation: Speaker: Marreromarco · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commonslet's hope so, if only — hopefully
Closest in English: hopefully, hope, if-only. None of them covers it.
How it went in the game
Contains the answers. If you want to play the word yourself first, leave this closed.
- Which language is it from?Spanish
- What does it literally say?If God wills it
- Where would you hear it?A student waiting for exam results
- What does it mean?May it turn out that way