I agree. I learned PHP at the time of PHP 3 and then 4. It was my first programming language. I grew critical of it as time passed and, like most people, made fun of its lot. But its ease of use and ubiquity still made it practical for some small projects in the following years (mid 2000s).
Then, in 2014, I got a job where PHP was the main language and I was surprised it had improved so much (though I left around a year later and haven't done any PHP since). I find it very impressive that they've been able to address many of the criticisms they received and that they keep introducing concepts that are popular in other languages, all the while mostly starting backward-compatible.
I probably still wouldn't pick it for a project—simply because there are other languages that I prefer or would like to learn—but I respect it a lot more than I used to and understand why many like it.
Then, in 2014, I got a job where PHP was the main language and I was surprised it had improved so much (though I left around a year later and haven't done any PHP since). I find it very impressive that they've been able to address many of the criticisms they received and that they keep introducing concepts that are popular in other languages, all the while mostly starting backward-compatible.
I probably still wouldn't pick it for a project—simply because there are other languages that I prefer or would like to learn—but I respect it a lot more than I used to and understand why many like it.