The latest internet meme, an audio clip that some listeners hear as "laurel" and others hear as "yanny," can be traced back to a freshman at Flowery Branch High School.
Katie Hetzel was working on a vocabulary assignment for her world literature class on May 11 when she came across the recording, hearing the robotic voice pronounce it as "yanny." Something about it just didn't seem right.
"I knew my vocab list pretty well, and I knew that 'yanny' was not a vocab word. I was very confused," said Hetzel, who at that point enlisted the help of friends to find out about this mysterious new word.
"What do you hear? I hear something different," Hetzel's friend told her.
"He told me he heard 'laurel,'" said Hetzel.
At that point, Hetzel said she looked up the definition, realizing in the process that her friend's ears were the ones who were hearing it correctly. (Sorry, anyone out there on #TeamYanny.)
"So I asked a bunch of people at my school what they thought. I put it on my Instagram, and the video I put on my Instagram got re-posted several times. It made it to Twitter, and that is how it blew up," said Hetzel.
Since the post went viral, Hetzel said her phone has been inundated with texts, phone calls and social media notifications.
"Life is really hectic right now, but I wouldn't say that's a bad thing," said Hetzel.
As to why someone might hear the same audio clip as someone else, yet hear an entirely different word, the explanations haven't quite pinned it down, but a general consensus points to the pitches or frequency the user is hearing.
Higher pitches, which are more easily processed in younger, not-yet-damaged ears, will yield a "yanny," while lower frequencies yield a "laurel."
One person that Hetzel hopes picks up the viral meme is TV personality Ellen DeGeneres. If DeGeneres acknowledges the "Yanny/Laurel" tweet on Hetzel's Twitter account, Hetzel said her teacher promised her a free 100-percent grade on a test.
"That would really help my grade in that class," said Hetzel.
AccessWDUN's Scott Kimbler contributed to this report.
