Amen to that.

Sorry for the religious reference.

No need to apologize. While it's often tied to religious contexts, its origin is from the Hebrew word meaning "truth" or "certainty," and it basically means "so be it" or "let it be so." Over time, it got picked up by different languages, including Greek and Latin, and has been used in both religious and secular ways to show agreement or affirmation. So, it's totally fine to say "amen" even outside of religious stuff. You're just agreeing or emphasizing a point.

But I'm sure a very educated man such as yourself, in your line of work, knows this already. :)

Richard, you are my teacher even in this.

The word, as you said, is of Semitic origins. It is used in Arabic as well as in Hebrew.

I don't know who coined the phrase, but I love to use it:
Man plans, God laughs.
On the other hand, here in Colombia, with any commitment to do anything they love to say, "Si Dios lo quiere", which translates to "If God wishes it to be so."
Which is a weasel way to say, "Don't hold me to it."
Or you can bet with 90% certainty that it's not going to happen as agreed upon.

I'm with Sami... Amen to that. And I'm not sorry for the religious reference.

As a follow-up to "Si Dios lo quiere", ja ja ja (how they write ha ha ha here)
It's been a month and I'm still waiting for the repair guy to bring the two parts for my tankless water heater, which was to be four Fridays ago. He doesn't answer his phone.
I guess God had wishes that I take cold showers and wash the dishes in stove heated water.

Sounds worse than Florida. I thought it was bad when I moved here 11 years ago. Now I'm used to it