Before Egyptians started using the word "A7A/احا" as a curse word, people used it to express their political objections and opposition. The origin of the word was more like "احتج," which means "I object." At the time, Fatimids had the word removed from the Arabic dictionary, so people changed it into the word "احتا" so they wouldn’t get in trouble saying the word in public. Later on, Egyptians changed the word to "احا/A7A" which is the abbreviation for "I really object" or "انا حقا اعترض."
The word is used on a regular base in the Egyptian community as a form of objection. Although older generations consider the word a form of cussing, our generation used the word during the revolution of 2011 in Egypt to make a political statement and to oppose the current regime at the time. The word gain back its political meaning at the time of the revolution and became a symbol in graffiti art, protests signs and on social media. Our aim to keep reminding people of the 2011 revolution, to talk about what happened and what is happening in Egypt of a military rule that is just an extension of the previous dictatorship before the revolution and to prepare our minds for the next revolution.
vive la revolution تعيش الثورة
الثورة مستمرة