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In Japanese, "sama" is an honorific used for "individuals of higher rank than oneself", and can carry connotations of admiration or worship [1].

I don't think this makes it a problem to use given the mainly American audience of HN, but could be why some users take it to be inappropriate.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics#Sama



Yes, but it isn't used on its own like that so it doesn't apply. It's used as part of compounds like 'o-kyaku-sama' (valued customer) or after someone's name.




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