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| - In November 2024, social media users shared a meme that listed the meanings of the word "MAGA" in various languages. These supposed translations had dark or negative connotations, suggesting that the conservative slogan "Make America Great Again" — popularized by President-elect Donald Trump and abbreviated "MAGA" — means "evil," "lies" or "magician" in languages like Japanese, South African Zulu and Spanish, respectively.
The meme was shared on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Threads and X to collectively garner thousands of interactions as of this writing.
Snopes translated "maga" into the languages listed on the meme above using Google Translate, which presents the possibility of error and may not always be accurate. Even so, the translations indicated that most of these translations were accurate. Other online tools were also used to support the translations.
These relationships are homonyms, multiple words with the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings or origins. Homophones, by comparison, have the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings.
Are the MAGA Translations Accurate?
The Church of Satan, a counterculture atheist group created in the 1960s and founded by Anton Szandor LaVey, does not worship the devil but rather uses the name to promote humanistic values.
In the Church of Satan, "Magus" or "Maga" is indeed a title denoting the priesthood, according to the group's website.
"Magus" is also the singular term for priests in the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism. It is used to describe the three wise men who paid homage to the infant Jesus, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
The Oxford English Dictionary notes that "magus" is rooted in classical Latin and is associated with the priesthood in other religions as well, which perhaps explains the "mag" relationship to sorcery or witchcraft across other languages.
For example, it is true that, in Latin, "maga" translates to "sorceress and witch," as the meme suggests. Similarly, in Portuguese, "maga" is the feminine word for "wizard."
In Japanese, "魔が" (Ma ga) translates to "the devil." The online linguistics tool Nihongo Master describes "maga" as:
禍, 曲
まが
maga
noun (common) (futsuumeishi)
Meaning wickedness; evil; calamity; disaster
As Snopes previously reported in 2019, "maga" doesn't mean much in Nigerian pidgin as a stand-alone word. Still, it is a commonly used expression to describe a specific type of victim: "An online fool who has parted with his/her money and/or emotions for the promise of millions or the promise of a relationship with a prince across the ocean."
Other translations of "maga" included in the meme were accurate, according to Google Translate, which found that, in isiZulu, it means "lies," which was supported by a Threads user who claimed to be of Zulu heritage; however, another user in the replies suggested "lies" meant "amanga" in isiZulu. But two separate translation tools also said the isiZulu word "maga" means "lies" in English.
Google Translate also found that, in Sundanese — one of the three principal ethnic groups of the island of Java, Indonesia — "maga" means "dragon," in Italian, it means "sorceress" and in Spanish, it translates to "magician."
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