【】

Twitter users flooded the president's mentions with creepy passages and haunting images after he announced that he tested positive for COVID-19. No, it's not some otherworldly hex on Trump — this is just another meme.
President announced his and first lady Melania Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis via Twitter (of course) on Thursday night, and social media exploded. Amid well wishes for a speedy recovery, glee at the diagnosis, and discourse over each response, Twitter users also started responding with messages paired with creepy images. When translated from Amharic to English, the messages warned of a "sinful soul" beyond salvation.
The practice is similar to K-pop stans flooding mentions with fancams to derail a conversation as a form of trolling.
CARD ID: 515002
Don't be alarmed — you might not be familiar with the language, but it's not an "evil" one just because you don't recognize it.
Amharic is actually one of the official languages of Ethiopia, with roughly 22 million speakers worldwide according to a 2007 census report. It's related to Ge'ez, also known as Ethiopic, which is used in the Ethiopian Orthodox church's liturgical texts. Ethiopian gospel music is often sung in Amharic.
But because the Amharic alphabet is so different from the ones the Western world is used to, the language became a copypasta. People would reply to otherwise innocuous messages in Amharic, and add an unsettling image. Earlier this year, a Reddit user asked for a translation of a screenshot of a text conversation, in which one person admitted they were on acid and the other replied in Amharic.
"Your family will spill the blood because of the actions you took. They feel eternal pain for your actions," the translated reply says. "Tears that flow from me will also change, and the pain they feel will be unbearable. You will soon be alone."
Over the course of the night, the trend evolved from pairing Amharic with demonic or Satanic images in Trump's replies to using surreal and humorous ones.
Tweet may have been deleted
CARD ID: 515004
Tweet may have been deleted
CARD ID: 515003
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
CARD ID: 515005
Tweet may have been deleted
While it may be funny to pair an unfamiliar language with an absurd image, Amharic speakers have asked Twitter users to stop pushing the meme. In July, Twitter user tsukkiskys, who speaks the language, wrote that their language "ain't some demonic copypasta."
"Stop viewing the world from your little 'western bubble," they tweeted. "Other writing systems exist. Other languages exist. Show some respect please."
Tweet may have been deleted
Some replied to replies using the copypasta asking to refrain from using Amharic as a meme.
Tweet may have been deleted
Bottom line, this isn't part of some greater conspiracy to curse the president. At the same time, though, responding with a culturally insensitive meme probably isn't the way to reply to Trump's COVID diagnosis.
Related Video: How to recognize and avoid fake news
TopicsDonald TrumpMemesCOVID-19
相关文章
Twitter grants everyone access to quality filter for tweet notifications
Twitter introduced two features Thursday in an effort to give users more control on what notificatio2025-03-19Nintendo reveals the Switch Lite for people who just play on the go
Do you have a Nintendo Switch that you never, ever connect to your TV? You might want to give the Sw2025-03-19Chernobyl is now an Instagram hot spot thanks to the HBO show
Leave it to Instagrammers to make a literal nuclear disaster a popular spot for photo shoots. Thanks2025-03-19This Twitter exchange about space between NFL players will really make you think
We may be in the middle of summer but that doesn't mean the NFL can't find ways to dominate headline2025-03-19Plane makes emergency landing after engine rips apart during flight
A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Orlando, Florida, made an emergency landing Saturday morning d2025-03-19How Snapchat brought me and my son together
Welcome toSmall Humans, an ongoing series at Mashable that looks at how to take care of – and2025-03-19
最新评论