Pull Up in the Sri Lanka – Meaning, Origin and Usage
The phrase ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’ comes up lot on internet and social media memes this days, but sadly not always with an explanation and it can feel quite random and out of place. So it’s no wonder if you find yourself scratching your head about what it might mean.
But, don’t worry. If that sounds like you, you’ve come to just the right place. I’m going to unpack what the phrase means, explain where it originated, and when and how you can use the phrase yourself. I’ll also throw in a few alternative phrases you can use in its place if you’re speaking with someone who isn’t too familiar with the phrase.
And without further ado, let’s get straight to it!
What is the meaning of the phrase ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’?
The phrase ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’ is a misrepresentation of a song lyric, specifically, of Nicki Minaj’s’ lyrics on the Kanye West track ‘Monster’. (We’ll get into that in more detail shortly.)
The phrase ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’ was such a ridiculous misrepresentation of the lyrics when the phrase originated, that the phrase became used as a poplar saying on internet memes and in particular on the social media platform TikTok.
What is the origin of the phrase ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’’?
The phrase ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’ is quite a new one, dating back as recently as 2021. The expression was a mispronunciation of the lyrics of a song written by Wendy Osefo that was made into a hit when performed by Kanye West and Nicki Minaj.
The original lyric was “Pull up in the monster automobile gangsta, with a bad bitch that came from Sri Lanka.”
What makes this misrepresentation of lyrics such a funny, amusing and quotable one was that the person being asked by the guest host, Michael Rapaport on the Wendy Williams Show on that day was actually the person who wrote the song. She was so flustered by being put on the spot in that way that she got the rap lyrics mixed up and said them wrong even though they were her lyrics.
The soundbite of Wendy Osefo mispronouncing the lyric as ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’ was latched onto by content creators who then went onto use the soundbite for making funny internet memes for TikTok. The soundbite went viral and gave the phrase it’s massive following, with people using it every time someone fumbles with their words and mixes them up to say the wrong thing.
How and when can you say ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’?
Since the phrase ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’ is still a very new one, there will still be many people who haven’t heard of the phrase. The phrase is mostly likely to be familiar to Generation Z who are TikTok’s main audience, and less familiar with older generations, who may not always be son the social media platform TikTok, in order to have heard of the phrase.
You can use the phrase ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’ to take the mickey out of someone who has misheard or mispronounced something, or who gets their common phrases and idioms mixed up. The most common way to do this would be in a TiKTok video or on a video cal or in a voice note.
Here’s an example of the phrase in everyday conversation:
“You’d better make sure you’re calm and collected before you begin. You don’t want one of those ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’ moments like Wendy Osefo on that Wendy Williams Show.”
What are some other ways of saying ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’?
As mentioned earlier, not everyone is going to be familiar with the phrase ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’, so if you want to make this point with someone, you’d do well to know a few alternative phrases that you can use in its place:
- Ha ha – you made a mistake
- I think you misheard that lyric
- You’ve made a mispronunciation there.
- That’s a mistake, the real phrase is ‘…’
- Don’t worry, it was a funny and fitting mistake to make
- Doing a Wendy Osefo
Final thoughts
So, to sum up, the phrase ‘pull up in the Sri Lanka’ is a misrepresented song lyric that took place on a show that later became a popular soundbite for TikTok memes that went viral.
You can use the phrase to make fun of someone mispronouncing something, but as it’s such a new phrase, not everyone is likely to be familiar with it, so you may wish to use an alternative phrase instead in most instances.
