Home > Life > Digital Culture

Twitter is hilariously struggling to pronounce the new coronavirus treatment

Woah Black Betty, bamlanivimab!

Amanda Yeo

on November 10, 2020

The world is racing to develop a coronavirus vaccine so we can go outside without people dying, with Pfizer's recent trial looking particularly promising. In the meantime, U.S. pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly & Co. has developed an experimental antibody that could at least help treat patients exhibiting mild symptoms, preventing them from worsening to the point they need hospitalisation.

Authorised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the treatment is a hopeful step forward in the ongoing battle against the coronavirus pandemic. This is exciting enough, but what has really caught Twitter's attention is the medicine's delightful name: bamlanivimab.

As many on the internet have noted, it looks a lot like a well-known earworm from African-American work song "Black Betty," popularised through covers by Ram Jam and Spiderbait.

Mashable Trend Report

Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means.

By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Thanks for signing up!

You May Also Like

Woah black Betty... bamlanivimab
— Jacob Ackley-Smith (@jakewsmith) November 10, 2020

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

As a nursing student, I would make a notecard for this new drug in the following manner:

Brand Name (generic name)

So, it's obviously called:

WhoaBlackBetty (bamlanivimab)
— Greg "Doomsday Prophet" Perkins 🏳️‍🌈 (@gregmperkins) November 10, 2020

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"Black Betty" isn't the only song the tongue-twisting name has been inserted in. Twitter users have been grappling with bamlanivimab's complicated appearance, likening it to scat singing, puzzling over its pronunciation, and lamenting at how close it was to a palindrome.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

It should be stressed that as fun as bamlanivimab is to say, or attempt to say, it is still not a coronavirus vaccine. We still have a long way to go before one is available, so remember to continue wearing your mask, washing your hands, and keeping your distance from others.

Topics X/Twitter COVID-19

Amanda Yeo

Assistant Editor

Amanda Yeo is an Assistant Editor at Mashable, covering entertainment, culture, tech, science, and social good. Based in Australia, she writes about everything from video games and K-pop to movies and gadgets.