Etymology

lo aleinu

Today it means: may it not happen to us; an expression that indicates a desire that a previously mentioned negative thing not happen again or effect anyone else Full definition →

Yiddish לא־עלינו ← Hebrew לֹא עָלֵינוּ
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The story

  1. Hebrew · borrowed fromלֹא עָלֵינוּ“lit. (may it) not [be] upon us”
  2. Yiddish · borrowed fromלא־עלינו
  3. English todaylo aleinu

From Yiddish לא־עלינו (loy oleynu) and Hebrew לֹא עָלֵינוּ (“lit. (may it) not [be] upon us”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.