TRENDING: The best reactions to 'Miss Samo soobonit,' the unlikely local TWICE meme
What is the whole "soobonit" fuss about, and why did it trend twice?
To start, there is a 9-member K-pop girl group known as TWICE, which since 2015 has released viral hits that you've probably heard of or seen people dancing to, like Likey, TT, and What is Love?
Most recently, the group is debuting its first sub-unit with its three Japanese members, Mina, Sana, and Momo. The said sub-unit is called MISAMO, a portmanteau of the first syllables of the three girls' names.
Now, the trend originated from a local news anchor's alternate pronunciation of sub-unit (soobonit or subunit) and MISAMO (Miss Samo) in a televised report. In a report that followed, she then killed her delivery, pronouncing "sub-unit" properly—and with emphasis.
"Japanese line ng Kpop girl group na TWICE, magde-debut sa Japan bilang SUB-UNIT," multihyphenate Dianne Medina of PTV-4 later posted like a true champ.
The Internet is living for her harmless flub and the attention it ultimately garnered for TWICE and MISAMO. Here are some of the best reactions on social media.
The Feels
Aside from the "soobonit" phrase, netizens were also amused by the follow-up correction with emphasis.
"The way she emphasized the 'sub-unit' I'm crying," a social media user said.
"Ms. Dianne Medina redeeming herself after subunit trended," another one tweeted.
A Twitter user also posted a meme of how they felt when they watched the report.
Others, meanwhile, came to the TV personality's defense. "Bakit kailangan i-gatekeep ang pronunciation ng #SUBUNIT? I can't believe we're language-policing news reporters now. She is just minding her own business. Japanese ba tayo? We can educate naman without being condescending," one Twitter user posted.
Some accounts said that a possible explanation for the honest mistake was teleprompter text that wasn't hyphenated properly (subunit instead of sub-unit): "Done laughing... Could be her first time seeing the script and had no idea about the group. Maybe she thought it's a Korean/Japanese term so she read it as is without thinking."
Another advised, "A tip on broadcast scriptwriting from my radio prod prof: isulat ang words kung paano ito bibigkasin, para mas madali sa newsreader basahin ito. For example: dey-byu (debut). Or for acronyms: U-P, U-A-A-P, B-FAR."