#Hashtag

Three days ago, a very old taxi driver asked me what a hashtag was. The radio was turned on and the word was mentioned. He was like: "What the fuck is a 'hashtag'? I've always wanted to know what it means. You seem young enough to know a lot about your disgraceful generation. Tell me, what does it mean?"

I always get along quite well with ill-tempered, old men; they remind me of my late father. I laughed and said: "You see sir; it's a way to track down all posts on social media networks related to a specific topic. For instance, during the snowstorm that happened a few days ago, the hashtag 'Huda' was used. If you searched for that hashtag during the storm, you would end up with all the posts that include it, and that way, you could view all the posts that talk about the storm."

"And why the fuck do they call it a hashtag?" He asked.

"Because they use the hash sign to add the hashtag to a post."

"What the fuck is a hash sign?"

"The number sign…It's also known as a hash sign in English language."

"You mean the one that looks like a chopped square that we use whenever we want to recharge our cell phones with credit?"

"Exactly…It's funny that you referred to it as a "chopped" square; because the word "hash" in English also means 'to chop' as a verb…or "chopped food" as a noun."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes."

"For someone who belongs to a fucked up generation, you're not a complete ignoramus."

I giggled and said "Thanks, sir."

"But isn't there an Arabic equivalent for 'hashtag'?"

"Yes, there is. It's 'Wasm'' [in English it means to brand, or mark.]

"Ah-huh…As to brand or mark something so you'd easily recognize it."

"Precisely."

"Why don't those fuckers on the radio use it?"

"Hell if I know."

"You know what? Hashtag their sisters!"

"Touché"

And then I almost passed out laughing.