JK Rowling has a new enemy to add to her roster, thanks to a recent Duolingo glitch that saw the beloved lil’ owl describe the controversial author as “mean”.
That’s right, a bunch of budding language learners during a recent German lesson, when intermediate-level students, users were posed with the question: “Do you like books with Harry Potter as a character?”
While the most straightforward answer for anyone who coveted an invisibility cloak or pined for Hagrid (just me?) would be a simple “yes”, users were instead presented with a correct answer that read (translated from German) “Yes, but in my opinion the author is mean”.
If there’s anything more embarrassing than being called out by a social media famous owl, it’s being called out in the notoriously guttural and cutting German accent. Guten tag, I guess?
It’s not yet known how many users were affected by the glitch, but Duolingo — which is the world’s most popular language app — has since released a statement apologising for “any offence caused” and vowing to “remove this content from the app”.
It didn’t say this, but wouldn’t it be great if Duolingo signed off with a “hoot hoot”?
User Gaby Koppel was among those to bring the glitch to the internet’s attention, claiming Rowling was the “first and only real life person” that had been “picked out for criticism” during Koppel’s five-month German studies.
While we don’t know for sure what prompted Duolingo to call Rowling “mean”, you only need to look at her spate of controversial transphobic antics in recent years to see that perhaps the insult was actually rather light.
From celebrating the UK Supreme Court’s passage of anti-trans laws to slamming the South Australian government for its allowance of preferred pronouns in courtrooms, Rowling has made a convincing case for the creation of a Harry Potter spell that makes TERFs magically STFU.
How do you say “transphobe” in German owl? Hoöt hôöt?
Duolingo is notoriously as social media (and unbrand safe) sensation, whether it’s undergoing a BBL procedure or controversially changing its default in-app voice.
This most recent glitch has me thinking that perhaps the Duolingo owl is somehow behind all that black mould on Rowling’s walls.
Lead images: Instagram and JK Rowling/X
