Meet the Fiesty "Snappin' Turla" That Has Taken Over Your Timeline on TikTok

Let’s be real. When it comes to social media, does anything really make sense?

Between millennials reminiscing on the good old days and Gen Z’s strange addiction to dancing, TikTok is all topsy-turvy and you never know what you’ll come across.

But no matter your demographic, nine times out of ten, you’ve heard the widely popular “My Lord! A snappin’ turla!” sound that first surfaced on TikTok in late October of 2022. But does anyone actually know what it means? Read on for a play-by-play of the original video!

Picture this: You’re out for a walk and you notice something suspicious lurking around in your front yard. With the help of a good samaritan, you later learn that it’s a living, breathing, snapping turla.

This was exactly what happened to a woman in a now-viral video that is taking over social media. In it, we meet Ms. Patricia Middleton — a true TikTok icon.

Ms. Pat was surprised to learn that she had an uninvited visitor swimming around in her pond. She started recording when an unnamed man in the video discovered the unruly reptile. In response to his find, she exclaimed, “My Lord! A snappin’ turla!”

Not turtle, turla. “Wow,” she says in the video, adding, “I hope that's [that’s] all in there!”

She goes on to narrate the rest of the video, using phrases like “look at that sucka,” “yes lawd,” and other things that have only ever been said by Black grandmas from the south. She concludes her video with a quick reminder that the now-famous snapping turla was found at “the home of Ms. Patricia Mi—,” she says before the clip cuts off.

While we don't know where or when the actual original video was posted, we do have a little more info about Ms. Pat.

Following the video's viral success, a woman named Keren Anderson who says she is Ms. Pat's daughter took to TikTok to reveal the face of the woman behind the camera in the video. And she's just as adorable as she sounds.

While many believed that the "snappin' turla" lady's last name was Miller, the caption reveals that her last name is actually Middelton. Pat's daughter also confirmed this in one of the comments, writing: "Her name is Patricia Middelton, the video cut off on her last name."

While it’s unclear where Patricia is now or if she’s encountered any other wildlife lately, we’d like to thank her for her service. Several users have since been inspired to make their own “snapping turla” TikToks, and they’re pretty hilarious.

One TikToker took one for the team and took out her dentures to the tune of the trending sound, while others asked their own grandmas to say the phrase into the camera.

Not to mention there are also a lot of videos of actual snapping turlas that can be found using the hashtag.

Fans of Ms. Pat can even shake a tail feather with the iconic “Snappin’ Turla (Remix)” that popular producer Suede the Remix God released on social media.

It’s safe to say that social media trends come and go. But snapping turlas are forever.