​Why the global dance music community is sharing the Indonesian phrase 'Om Telolet Om'

Om telolet om – the three words that artists like Zedd, Martin Garrix, DJ Snake, Bassjackers and plenty more have been tweeting this week and people have had no idea why. The BBC reported it was used on Twitter almost 800,000 times since it began trending on Tuesday and has also since inspired countless memes, tweets, mash-ups and more.

It turns out the phrase is Indonesian and is used by youths in the country to encourage bus drivers to honk their horns. In Indonesia, many local buses have customized horns and you'll often find youths standing on the side of the road holding signs that read ‘Om telolet om’, which loosely translates to ‘Sir, honk your horn, sir’ in English. The word ‘telolet’ is the onomatopoeia of Indonesian bus horns and ‘om’ is how you address an older male, like sir in English.

It appears as if the connection to dance music began when Indonesian EDM fans started spamming their favorite DJs on social media with the phrase. Many artists have responded positively and started sharing the phrase themselves. There were a few artists who were so enamored with the craze that they made videos themed after it and some even sampled the sounds. Listen to how Dutch duo Firebeatz included this little slice of Indonesian culture into their music below.

Watch the original video of the Indonesian phenomenon that went viral below.

[via BBC]