Gratata

About

"Gratata" is an onomatopoeia for the sound produced by a fully automatic firearm which is often mocked by users of the video-sharing site Vine.

Origin

On April 10th, 2014, Viner Bryan Silva posted a mirror-shot selfie video in which he recites threatening rap lyrics that ends with the “gratata” sound effect while standing in the bathroom in his underwear (shown below, left). On the following day, Silva posted a second video featuring the onomatopoeia accompanied by a gun shot hand gesture (shown below, right). Within 20 days, the videos gained over 49,000 and 146,000 revines respectively.

Spread

On April 16th, the @GratataEdits Twitter feed was launched, featuring photoshopped pictures of Silva.

On April 18th, Viner Nam Tran posted a parody mocking Silva's gratata videos, which gathered more than 23,000 revines and 17,000 likes in the next two weeks (shown below).

On April 20th, YouTuber Vines Compilations posted a compilation of notable "gratata" Vine videos, garnering upwards of 197,000 views and 90 comments in the next 10 days. (shown below).

On April 24th, Soundcloud user WhoIsSizzle posted a rap song titled "#Gratata (part 1), featuring vocals by Silva (shown below). In one week, the track accumulated more than 22,600 plays and 1,000 likes in one week.

On April 26th, a post questioning the meaning of "gratata" was submitted to the /r/OutOfTheLoop^[1] subreddit, where several users cited Silva's gratata Vine videos as the original of the phrase. On the same day, Urban Dictionary user Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak submitted an entry for "gratata," defining it as "a term used to represent gunshots." On April 28th, Viner Klarity posted a parody video containing several short sketches mocking the "gratata" onomatopoeia, which gained over 135,000 revines and 92,000 likes in the first 48 hours (shown below).

Arrest

On January 3rd, 2016, Silva was arrested on suspicion of abduction and firearm possession by a convicted felon after a dramatic police standoff in Charlottesville, Virginia. According to the official report, the incident began when Silva's 17-year-old girlfriend fled his house to a neighbor's after he allegedly threatened her with a handgun; when the police responded to the neighbor's report and arrived at the scene, the 25-year-old Vine meme star refused to cooperate and barricaded himself in the home for several hours, during which he posted videos of himself dancing, yelling and drinking to Facebook, moments before he was overpowered by the SWAT team, who had to resort to incapacitating agents in order to force him out of the house. That same day, a Vine user uploaded a newscast video of Silva being taken into police custody with his pants down to his knees (shown below), which went on to be seen 2.4 million times in the first 48 hours.

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External References