#QueBarbara

Jose Bautista is a bilingual gentleman. When he tweets, he tweets in full sentences that are often adequately punctuated. Significant tweets, he translates into English if first tweeted in Spanish, into Spanish if first tweeted in English). He is dapper.

Jose Bautista, surely, is not unaware of the sometimes awesome differences of expression in the two languages that he speaks. Consider especially the discrepancy in hashtags of the following tweets — the first the original tweet in English and the second Mr. Bautista’s own translation:

Was just pumping gas and this lady parked in the pump next to mine cigarette in mouth and started pumping, had to het out of there#NotCool

— Jose Bautista(@JoeyBats19) January 16, 2013

Estaba echando gasolina y se para una señora al lado mio con un cigarrillo en la boca y empieza a echarle a su carro #QueBarbara

— Jose Bautista(@JoeyBats19) January 16, 2013

#NotCool is not very cool. #QueBarbara, however, which can be more directly translated as “How barbaric!” or that “That Barbarian!”might also be taken to mean “Oh, that Barbara!” And that is pretty cool.

One is — i.e. I am — led to thoughts of a sitcom, wherein Mr. Bautista happens upon into his neighbor, “Crazy Barbara,” at various intervals as she destroys the world one gas station at a time, each segment ending with Mr. Bautista turning to the camera and saying, “¡Que Barbara!”

And when the world has been rendered devoid of gas stations (Season 9, Episode 17), it will be Barbara’s turn to look into the camera and say, “¡Que bueno suerte! ¡Tengo gasolina in mi bolsa!” And then there will be nothing left to tweet.