Memes from Romania

Those memes known world-wide that spread like a virus on social media like Youtube and Facebook captivate our friends in that Eastern European (and very Latin) country just as much. These viral videos are made in a variety of languages, but not often do we find one in a language like Romanian.

Here are two of these memes in their Romanian translations.

The first one is a Romanian remake of Loituma Girl performance, made famous on Youtube throughout the world by the voices of a group of Finnish vocalists. Because the original video showed the animation of a girl spinning a leek, ultimately the song became known as the "Leekspin".

The Romanian version has nothing to do with leeks or spins. While the catchy melody has been kept intact, the song talks about a a Romanian girl who won't give up the rița, rița until she is married. The guy insists, but the girls claims that she's "not one of those girls" and keeps demanding marriage before giving it up.

The greatest part about this version is that it's sung with an accent that has received much attention on this blog: the Moldovan accent.

We hear the singer say niși for nici and the very Moldovan amu. She also pronounces degetul as dejetu and vorbele as vorbili, among other Moldovan characteristics.

As the Rița, Rița story develops throughout the video, Mister Superstar guy just isn't giving up, and even employs some English in an attempt to convince the girl (yes, he's still after the rița, rița).

"I love you, babe" transcribed phonetically with a Romanian spelling:
Ai lăv iu beib

The second viral video we'll mention here is one of German origin, translated in multiple languages and recorded in a multitude of variations as is now expected with memes: The Gummybear song performed by none other than Nicolae Guță, the king of manele.

Like the last Romanian remake not being about leeks, this Gummybear version has nothing to do with gummies or bears. It tells the story of the Fat Frumos, the Prince Charming, who tells us what he's up to each day of the week — lunea, martea, miercuria, joia, vineri, sâmbăta, and duminica.

I'll pass on the original Finnish Leekspin and the English Gummybear for their Romanian versions.