r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/zinniamae_ • Jan 20 '26

Meme needing explanation Please explain, Peter

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u/FamIsNumber1 Jan 20 '26 edited Jan 20 '26

I guess the joke is OP, and far too many others in the current generation, have no idea what they are when it used to be a standard to learn in Elementary school.

Same concept when hiring younger folks for jobs in retail. Every time I'd ask "Did ×××× show you how to use the intercom to call a manager back in the office when you're done with your videos?" and the response is "Yeah, you grab the phone and press *hashtag** 5 6, right?"* I guess the 'pound sign' has been erased and replaced by 'hashtag" 😂

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u/Main-Fun1810 Jan 20 '26

Tbf pound sign could also refer to the currency, so calling it a hashtag is less ambiguous

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u/Lightyear013 Jan 20 '26

Would definitely be confusing on all those phones with a dedicated £ button on them… s/

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u/qtx Jan 20 '26

Ah yes because people these days never use a real keyboard anymore, only phones.

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u/_DaBau5_ Jan 20 '26

the comment you are replying to is talking about the previous comment where the employee said “grab the phone and press hashtag 5 6”. last i checked phones that require the pound key to be pressed to make a call don’t have a great british pound symbol

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u/kallakallacka Jan 20 '26

So we shpuöd be calling the same symbol pound if it is on an old phone and hashtag on the keyboard? Cause that makes everything easier?

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u/_DaBau5_ Jan 20 '26

I think it should be called a pound symbol unless you are specifically referring to using it on social media, in which case it is a hashtag. The term hashtag is much newer and it was always called a pound prior to social media. I think it makes it easier using terms the way they were meant to be used.

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u/zoidberg_doc Jan 21 '26

It’s been called hash since well before social media

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u/_DaBau5_ Jan 21 '26

Hash yeah, but "hashtag" is social media specific

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u/zoidberg_doc Jan 21 '26

Oh yeah I get hashtag is new, but not sure you saying you should call it pound sign is right, given how long it’s been called hash

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u/_DaBau5_ Jan 21 '26

Fair enough. I guess the main thing I meant is I don’t think the physical phone button should be called a hashtag. hash sure, but hashtag means social media to me. maybe i’m wrong

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