Yes. I've read some of the reasoning behind choosing the syntax. Regardless of the issues, I think going with the current proposed syntax is a terrible mistake.
Yes, absolutely alien/awful syntax. `private` is already reserved word, why not use it? It has been reserved word for this specific moment when it's needed for exactly this, am I wrong? What's the point in having reserved words in spec if the spec is afraid of using them? I don't get it, can someone explain why this ungodly # made it so far already?