Singer Smokey Robinson went viral on Monday for his hilariously wrong — and charming — pronunciation of the word “Chanukah.”
The 80-year Motown legend sent a holiday greeting to one of his fans via the Cameo app, where users can pay celebrities to film direct shout-outs (Robinson is one of the app’s more expensive stars, charging $350 per Cameo).
“They wanted me to wish you Happy Chanukah!” Robinson said in the video, pronouncing the Jewish holiday “Cha-NOO-kah.”
He continued with a dazzling smile: “I have no idea what Chanukah is, but Happy Chanukah because they said so. Anyway, God bless you, babe, and enjoy Chanukah.”
Watch the whole 45-second Cameo below:
My mom grew up on the same street as Smokey Robinson in Detroit. So for Chanukah, I wanted to reunite them via @Cameo. But the video takes a strange twist. pic.twitter.com/IZ3S9WusiJ
— Jeff Jacobson (@jeffjacobson) December 13, 2020
Twitter had a field day with the clip. Some praised his earnest efforts:
This is quite different from just not getting what you paid for. This video is WONDERFUL. It’s warm, personal, sincere, and unintentionally funny and will make a wonderful gift. It’s like how coins with an error on them are worth more than their face value.
— Caroline Under Water (@Hashtag_Paris) December 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/vasman132/status/1338479429912244227
https://twitter.com/JewGEdelstein/status/1338503339110100993
And others took the opportunity to educate the singer on the holiday, also spelled Hanukkah:
https://twitter.com/Jon83846176/status/1338510125158592513
@smokeyrobinson Hahaha! Cha-nu-kah! Well, he tried! But really Smokey, you’ve traveled throughout the US-you never heard of Chanukah? It is a holiday that has occurred for approximately 5000 years during this time of year. It is NOT the same as Christmas. #otherdecemberholiday
— Barbara Katz (@BarbaraKatz15) December 14, 2020
One thing’s for sure: Robinson definitely knows how to pronounce “Christmas” — he released a holiday album in 1963 titled “Christmas with The Miracles” with his former band The Miracles.
Robinson is the second celebrity to recently trend on Twitter for a hilariously odd mispronunciation; last week, British chef Nigella Lawson went viral after the unusual way she said “microwave,” which you can see below:
https://twitter.com/floellaumbagabe/status/1336283722484740096