‘MY F*K’ MARELIZE HAS SA ROFLMAO
WHAT started as a simple bicycle riding lesson has now unintentionally turned into an online sensation with South Africa and its neighbours enjoying a new catchphrase: “My f**, Marelize.” It was this week repeated and interpreted by scores of people who watched the video of a mother recording her daughter learning to ride a bicycle. The Afrikaans exclamation was the candid reaction of the mother when the youngster crashed the bicycle into a rugby goal post.
WHAT started as a simple bicycle riding lesson has now unintentionally turned into an online sensation with South Africa and its neighbours enjoying a new catchphrase: “My f**, Marelize.”
It was this week repeated and interpreted by scores of people who watched the video of a mother recording her daughter learning to ride a bicycle.
The Afrikaans exclamation was the candid reaction of the mother when the youngster crashed the bicycle into a rugby goal post.
The footage, which spread like wildfire since it emerged on social media platforms and has since been uploaded on to YouTube, has garnered thousands of views this week.
Social media users enjoyed the reaction so much that some had even said that they were considering using the expression as their new ringtone and cellphone message alert.
Others have adopted the term in an effort to comically express frustration, irritation, disbelief, amazement or amusement.
The phrase was born when Marelize Horn of Namibia was learning to ride her bicycle on what appeared to be the rugby field at Affies Park in Windhoek.
In the video, a gust of wind can be heard as the 19-year-old is seen slowly riding the bicycle around the field.
But as she nears the yellow rugby posts, she fails to stop in time and crashes into the structure.
As she falls to the ground, her mother, who was recording the bicycle riding lesson, exclaims in Afrikaans: “My f**, Marelize,” as she begins to walk towards the teenager.
Although this was the first time that thousands of people witnessed the teen’s clumsiness, this is apparently part of her nature and she has even described herself as ’n ongeluksvoël (accident prone) who falls down almost every day.
“My mom, Heidi, says: ‘My f**, Marelize’ to me almost every day,” Marelize said yesterday.
“I fall off things, walk into things – it’s insane how clumsy I am.
“My mom made a video of me riding so that we could watch it afterward to pick up on any mistakes that I made.”
She said she was learning to ride the bicycle because she planned on moving to the Netherlands later this year to work as an au pair.
Marelize is amazed at the attention that her ordeal has since received and has said that there were already T-shirts available with the phrase.
The video and the expression with its own hashtag, #myf**marelize, have caused comic relief to those who watched it.
This includes Twitter user @cltkidlit who wrote: “#myf**marelize made my day on Wednesday when a friend shared on WhatsApp. A good laugh at Heidi’s reaction & the accident completely resonated with my week’s lessons! Light-relief. Good luck & go well in Holland, Marelize.”
Meanwhile, @ShamiDaya plans to make the expression her own when she posted on Twitter: “My new catchphrase is going to be ‘My f*k, Marelize’ every time I see someone doing something stupid.”
@Choplette echoed these sentiments when she wrote on Twitter: “I’ve watched this video a hundred times. Been muttering ‘My f**, Marelize’ as I go about my daily tasks. Also, I’m re-learning how to ride a bike after a 25-year hiatus, so I identify.”
@Calico_Cream humorously suggested that Marelize was responsible for yesterday’s tremor when she posted: “I felt the tremor this morning – I mean, Marelize! #MyF**.”
Others questioned why Marelize was not wearing a helmet, while others praised her mother’s reaction.