Trololo / Édouard Khil
Wordless Soviet-era vocal performance reused as a cheerful reaction clip.
Meaning
It denotes the televised performance where Khil sings tro-lo-lo instead of lyrics. The tone is cheerful and absurd, used to signal playful trolling or awkward triumph. It circulates among reaction-GIF and video-meme users.
Origin
Khil was a Russian baritone active in the 1960s to 1980s. A clip of his song I Am Very Glad, for I Am Finally Returning Home resurfaced online in 2009 and spread as Trololo. The exact uploader chain is disputed, but the year 2009 is widely cited. He was born in 1934 and died in 2012.
How it's used
People post it to interrupt, celebrate, or defuse a thread with wordless humming. It functions as a noun for the song and as an interjection for the refrain. It does not inflect, though trololoing appears as a verb form.
Example
He lost the argument and just replied with Trololo.
Variants & related
Spellings include Trololo, Trollolo, and Trololol. Related memes include Rickrolling and wordless reaction clips. The opposite is a captioned rant meme.
Common misunderstandings
Outsiders treat it as nonsense with no source and miss Khil. It is ironic, so using it as sincere praise misfires. It is not intended as a slur.