It is actually used to put off a cranky person in a group. The slang has been used by the makers of '3' to depict the anguish of a person who has just tasted rejection from the hands of a girl whom he liked.

The Internet was made for things like this. “Why this Kolaveri” sung by Tamil actor Dhanush has become the latest viral sensation to sweep across Indian cyberspace, getting almost one and a half million views since it was first uploaded on to youtube last week.

The droll exaggerated accent Dhanush employs as he sings “Why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di” is an instant earworm and eminently singable. The lyrics are hilarious and helpfully come with subtitles so that we all know just how to pronounce “black-u” (Like the girls heart) and “white-u” (like her skin). Kolaveri – if you didn’t know before – roughly translates to mental torture. In between the singing, Dhanush makes helpful little comments like “rhythm correct” and at one point even employs auto tuner (think every recent Usher song you have heard) as he chants “one-two-three”

The music producer of the film “moondra” (three) that Kolaveri is a part of, Anirudh Ravichandar, told CNN IBN he had just mixed the music, when Dhanush walked in, heard it and just sang it impromptu. “Till date we have no lyric sheet for the song” he said, adding that it had taken them only 20 – 25 minutes to completely finish recording the song before he got the musicians in.

Listen to the song now: