A few hours ago WhatsApp took to its Twitter account and tweeted out words in different native languages to mean hello. In their tweet, they said, “Some of the best conversations start with a hello, नमस्ते, Olá, Hola, Ẹ nlẹ̀ o, Oli otya?” The last one is a greeting to mean hello in Luganda. Within the same tweet, WhatsApp when ahead and responded to this tweet with “Gyendi” which is a response to the hello greeting to mean I am fine.
“Oli otya?” is from Luganda, the Bantu language for the Baganda people, meaning..”How are you?” but it’s also the most spoken local language in Uganda at large! The response can be “ndi bulungi”(I’m fine), although most people respond with “gyendi” to mean “I’m fine”! The reason for the tweet WhatsApp is now recognizing the beauty of the sublime languages around the world.
The tweet has made several Ugandans excited and have jumped on into the comment section and some expressed worry that the makers WhatsApp may not be making their conversations encrypted if they are now tweeting in their native languages.
WhatsApp admin knowing "Luganda" has made me think our messages are not end to end encrypted.
— Jim🇺🇬 (@JimUg5145) November 24, 2021
Means I won't receive nudes anymore. pic.twitter.com/nxeMRgBWGn
While some were purely surprised that people in Meta, the makers of WhatsApp know Luganda.
