This is What’s Trending Today….
LeBron James was understandably emotional Sunday night after he led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the National Basketball Association championship.
Photographs of the basketball star crying after the win spread quickly on social media. To some people, the photos looked a lot like the popular internet meme #CryingJordan.
A meme is a funny image or video that is copied -- with small changes -- and spread on social media.
The #CryingJordan meme is based on a picture of former basketball star Michael Jordan crying. He became emotional when he joined the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
People have been posting the picture on social media whenever their favorite sports team loses or in connection with any other disappointing event.
On Tuesday, the ABC television show Good Morning America asked its followers on Twitter about a possible new #CryingLeBron meme. The tweet made note of other famous memes.
The Tweet included the photo of Michael Jordan crying and a picture of Kermit the Frog drinking tea.
Kermit the Frog is part of the popular Internet meme known as “None of My Business.” People use the Kermit meme to make jokes about “questionable behaviors in everyday social situations,” according to the website KnowYourMeme.com.
Kermit is one of the Muppets, a group of characters created by puppeteer Jim Henson. The Disney Company now controls the rights to the Muppets. The company also owns ABC TV.
Good Morning America’s tweet read: “Does #CryingLeBron join other meme greats like #tealizard, [and] #CryingJordan?”
Twitter users quickly reacted, criticizing the TV show for calling Kermit the Frog a lizard. By definition, a ‘lizard’ is a reptile that has a long body and tail, and rough, uneven skin. Kermit is, of course, a frog puppet. Not a lizard puppet.
People on social media mocked Good Morning America for mistaking the world-famous frog for a lizard. The #tealizard hashtag quickly took over the Internet.
By early Tuesday, #tealizard was a trending topic on Twitter. And the fun began.
One Twitter user questioned whether or not the #tealizard error was a mistake, or “whether some evil genius at GMA” created it on purpose.
While the people directing Good Morning America’s Twitter account might not have known about Kermit’s “none of my business” meme, LeBron James himself surely has.
He posted an Instagram photo of himself wearing a Kermit the Frog “None of my business” hat. James posted the photo on Monday, many hours before the GMA tweet. The photo included a note to his critics and doubters, and ended with the line “but guess what, that’s none of my business.”
Words in This Story
behavior - n. the way a person or animal acts or behaves
puppeteer - n. a person who uses puppets in performances to entertain people
reptile - n. an animal (such as a snake, lizard, turtle, or alligator) that has cold blood, that lays eggs, and that has a body covered with scales or hard parts
puppet - n. a doll that is moved by putting your hand inside it or by pulling strings or wires that are attached to it
evil - adj. morally bad
genius - n. a person who is very good at doing something