Sco Pa Tu Manaa

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About

Sco Pa Tu Manaa is a slang phrase that has a variety of meanings in multiple languages, including "I’ll hit you" and "what experience does this remind you of" In Spring 2019, the phrase went viral after being included in Ghanaian musician Patapaa's verse on the song Davi. Following the song's release, people began posting images with the phrase as a caption, which could be a reference to the song or a way of asking followers their experiences with the subject of the image.

Origin

On April 3rd, 2019, Ghanaian recording artist Kawoula Biov released the song "Daavi Neba." The song featured a verse by fellow artist Patapaa. Within two months, the video received more than 629,000 views (shown below).

According to the website GHPage.com,^[1] the lyrics to the verse read:

till patu pataa
skoska to mana
till da pop dada
sko pa to mana
filo di si dadaa
kati don panpana
ma don go don
ma ga da zen zen
na dan bam badan
ko danko kedo
kra po aba
tsu seyy

Spread

Following the release of the song, people began recording videos of themselves attempting to sing Patapaa's verse. On April 25th, 2019, YouTuber GOLDEN TV posted a compilation of the "SKOPATOMANA CHALLENGE." Within two months, the post received more than 170,000 views (shown below, left).

That day, YouTuber Vibez TV published the video "OMG!! Patapaa New Song 'Skopatumana' Challenge Goes Viral." The post received more than 22,000 views (shown below, right).

[This video has been removed]

On May 1st, 2019, Twitter ^[2] user @MercedesSlimBoy posted the phrase with a picture of a sign that reads "Run for Your Life Int. Chapel" (shown below, left).

According to the website campustrybe.com,^[3] this is in reference to the phrase's meaning "What experience does this remind you of." However, it appears as though this can also be used as a shitpost inspired by the confusion surrounding the lyrics. They also note that the phrase "originated from Hawaiian language" (examples below, right)

According to the website tatisis,^[7] the phrase has a variety of meanings on Twitter. They wrote:

Sco pa tu manaa as used on social media spaces like twitter means:
1. Where is that?
2. What's on your mind?
3. What exactly is happening?
4. What do you think about this?
5. To get response or feedback on your post, users of the word scopatumana simply type in 'Sco pa tu manaa' and post an image alongside and responders will share their thoughts on what it your topic is talking about.

Days later, on May 5th, Twitter^[4] user @ajeezayGH tweeted the phrase with an image of a shoe. The post received more than 200 likes and 40 retweets in less than two months (shown below, left).

On May 29th, Twitter^[5] user @aliyu_omarr shared a screenshot from the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City with the phrase, receiving more than 300 likes and 100 retweets (shown below, center). Over the next month, people on Twitter continued to share images with the phrase (example below, right).

Some online attempted to explain the phrase's usage due to the fact that so many people were confused by the meme. On May 27th, Twitter^[6] user @mickyyebscon responded to a meme by writing, "co pa tu manaa is a word in a song by Ghanaian artists named patapaa no one knows exactly what it means.. But he was kinna rhyming with words that's all I know" (shown below).