Major Major

Maria Venus Raj of the Philippines was one of the most popular contenders for the Miss Universe 2010 pageant, receiving the highest-ever rating in the Miss Universe website for a Filipina delegate, thanks to her exotic look and some dethronement issues she faced before being the official Miss Universe contestant of the country. During the pageant Ms. Philippines made it all the way to the top 5.

In the Miss Universe question and answer portion, Raj was asked by American actor William Baldwin the question: "What is the biggest mistake that you made in your life and what you did to make it right?" She replied, "You know what, sir, in my 22 years of existence, I can say that there's nothing MAJOR MAJOR, I mean problem that I've done in my life because I'm very confident with my family, with the love that they are giving to me. So thank you so much that I'm here. Thank you, thank you so much!"

That answer may not have done good in her score, as she finished the pageant at 4th runner up only, but it sure gave her more unprecedented fame. After the pageant, networking sites like Facebook flooded with Filipino people posting the 'Major Major' phrase in their status updates. All local news programs talked about that awkward answer. Even CNN featured Venus Raj in their news, saying that the contestant and her answer caught more attention than the Miss Universe winner.

There is a deeper reason why Filipinos thought that the 'Major Major' phrase was hilarious in epic proportions. It's because when Filipinos heard the phrase, they thought Venus was trying to translate to English the popular local gay lingo adjective 'Bonggang-bongga' which refers to 'something really great (with sarcasm).' Venus, in an interview, said that she was not aware that she had repeated the word, was just nervous, and was really trying to say that you don't really do mistakes because everything happens for a greater plan.

Nevertheless, the 'Major Major' meme continues to survive in the Philippines, finding its use in everyday sentences, as if it's treated as an accepted vocabulary. That's what i call major major epic.