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How 'Laughing Man' spread around the world

  • Published
    19 March 2015
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Media caption,

Spanish laughing man

BBC Trending
What's popular and why

His loud guffawing and rapid-fire delivery has been mistranslated into English, Arabic and Russian. But who is 'Spanish Laughing Man' and what is he really talking about?

A video in which Laughing Man is depicted as an Apple engineer has more than 4 million views on YouTube, external. He's also been used to criticise Russian president Vladimir Putin, and Muslim Brotherhood supporters used Laughing Man to make their point during last year's elections in Egypt.

But it turns out that in the original Spanish, Laughing Man isn't really laughing about politics at all.

Video journalist: Alvaro A. Ricciardelli

Next story: Do Chinese tourists lack good manners?

For more videos subscribe to BBC Trending's YouTube channel., external

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending

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