On October 25, tech billionaire Elon Musk tweeted a somewhat cryptic tweet in which he wrote “Macrohard >> Microsoft” while mocking the tech-giant Microsoft. In a follow-up Tweet, he then praised the video conferencing app by Microsoft, i.e. Teams and said, “Although Teams is pretty good”. Though Elon Musk has been posting such tweets for a long time, this particular tweet cracked up the microblogging platform, especially from India.
Although Teams is pretty good
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 25, 2021
As it sounds like the abuse word in Hindi/Punjabi, many Indians found it funny as, at first glance, they thought Musk used the cuss word. Twitter user MadBadMax wrote, “First lesson in Hindi for your firang friends be like…” He was pointing out the fact that when a foreigner tries to learn Hindi from an Indian, there is a possibility that he or she may teach them a cuss word pretending it means something innocent.
First lesson in Hindi for your firang friends be like .. 😆 https://t.co/u10GM6mVp1
— MadBadMax (@MadBadMax3) October 25, 2021
Another Twitter user, 9_t_8, called out people with a dirty mind who assumed Musk wrote a cuss word.
Dirty minded people 😉 https://t.co/bVtk04Yung
— मोगू (@9_t_8) October 25, 2021
Twitter user Navneeth wrote with ROLF emoji that he thought Musk wrote ‘something else.
Fisrt read something else 😂🤣 https://t.co/XvGy4qwyzI
— Navneeth (@Navneethkarun1) October 25, 2021
Twitter user Gautam Dayal did not hesitate in telling that what he mistook the word ‘Macrohard’ for.
My stupid ass read it as madarch*d 😮💨 https://t.co/TsVNpPLlY1
— Gautam Dayal (@levi_aakrimann) October 25, 2021
Fresh Founder, another Twitter user, wondered how many people other than him thought it was a cuss word.
Who else read it as MC at first? 🤐 https://t.co/UCTuKREv63
— Fresh Founder (@fresh_founder) October 25, 2021
But what is Macrohard anyway?
There can be several references that one can see over the internet where Macrohard has been mentioned. In general, it is used as the opposite of the word Microsoft. Its usage dates back couple of decades ago. According to Urban Dictionary, it was added by a user in 2003 as opposed to the word Microsoft.
There have been numerous jokes based on the word that revolves around Microsoft. For example, a post on Reddit described Macrohard Onfire as the opposite of Microsoft Office. A bully wiki board wrote a semi-detailed version of the jokes that have been happening around Microsoft that included Macrohard Doors, Macrohard Doors Ex-Pee, Macrohard Doors Servant and more. It described Macrohard as a parody of Microsoft.
The explicit meaning
According to Urban Dictionary, the word Macrohard also has an explicit meaning. It can be referred to as ‘a large penile erection’. Interestingly, Microsoft, in urban slang terms, also means ‘a a flaccid penis’.
Musk’s ex-girlfriend used the tech joke a week ago
The former girlfriend of Musk, Claire Elise Boucher, professionally known as Grimes, had shared two photographs on Twitter with the tech joke saying, “Why to be Microsoft when u can be Macrohard?” referring to the explicit meaning of the company’s name.
The anniversary of Microsoft Windows XP
Twenty years ago, on October 25, 2001, Microsoft launched the very famous and long-running operating system Windows XP. It is possible that Musk might be mocking Microsoft in connection to the now-dead operating system. It has to be kept in mind that Musk joined hands with Microsoft last year. In October 2020, it was reported that Microsoft and SpaceX would be working together to expand cloud computing platforms into space.
Musk continues to be cryptic
Elon Musk, in subsequent tweets tweeted more amusing things, like the British surreal comedy troop Monty Python skit.
Followed by some more cryptic tweets.Naughtius Maximus https://t.co/sad4sLZT5D
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 25, 2021
What if ur name is Johnson & u just happen to work at Johnson & Johnson?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 25, 2021
However, it is still unclear why the eccentric businessman inadvertently sent Indians in a tizzy over Macrohard tweet.