It was supposed to be the “universal language”. According to Wikipedia, up to 100,000 people speak it globally.
If I remember correctly, it was adopted by the League of Nations, a precursor to NATO, in the early 1900’s.
Here’s the article if you’re interested. I didn’t really read through it to fact check myself cause I’m poopin’ on break, but there you go.
You’re right, that is a shit opinion.