Shakira’s performance at the Super Bowl halftime show with Jennifer Lopez striked many conversations among the social media users.
The Colombian artist looked at the camera and flicked her tongue with a specific sound. This particular moment of the singer’s performance quickly became a popular meme and is widely shared around Twitter. Lots of users are confused about the gesture and its meaning.
Despite Shakira being born and brought up in Colombia, the singer has roots in the Middle East, as her grandparents are Lebanese. Therefore the artist uses belly dancing and traditional Middle Eastern musical instruments during her shows.
Zaghrouta is what the tongue flicking actually happens to be. Shakira’s fast movement of the tongue and making pitched singing along to it is a Middle Eastern cultural gesture representing a woman’s delight and joy. It’s commonly practiced at the Arabic weddings to cheerfully celebrate and congratulate the newlyweds.
Even though this part of the performance became a popular meme on social media, many people learned about the true meaning behind it and became more aware of Middle Eastern customs and traditions.
