Meaning of the phrase
YOLO is an abbreviation of the phrase “You Only Live Once,” that is, “you live only once.” The phrase is used as a justification for actions involving risk: incessant drinking, drug use, or sudden reckless decisions. It is exactly this usage that the catalog describes.
The meaning of the phrase is ambivalent. On the one hand, it expresses a call not to postpone life's joys. On the other, it serves as a pretext for behavior whose consequences a person does not take into account. For this reason, the expression is often discussed as an example of a slogan that easily turns into an excuse.
The abbreviation keeps its Latin spelling even in Russian-language captions and hashtags, as well as in the image itself, where “#YOLO” is written above the character.
Origin
The exact original source of the phrase is not known. The phrase itself and the mood it expresses go back several decades, but the first documented written instance is not identified.
The abbreviation existed long before the mass meme. For example, Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and his wife named their ranch with this acronym before 1996. In that case the meaning was different, but the very fact of its use shows that the abbreviation appeared before its internet popularity.
The phrase is dated to 2004. The closest documented point of mass spread dates to 2011–2012.
Popularization in 2011–2012
The main push toward wide distribution came from the rapper Drake. His song “The Motto” was released on November 29, 2011. The expression “YOLO” appeared in it and in several other tracks that were being prepared for a joint mixtape with Rick Ross.
By 2012 the phrase appeared on graffiti, in school pranks, on tattoos, in music, on television, and on merchandise. A company that owned a frozen yogurt chain in Florida filed a trademark application in 2010. The registration was granted in 2012, and it was canceled in 2018. Drake later claimed rights to merchandise bearing the word, but he holds no trademark on the word itself.
In 2013 the group The Lonely Island released the song “YOLO” featuring Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar. The track parodied both the phrase itself and the people who made it a way of life. The song reached No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100. In January 2014, in a monologue on Saturday Night Live, Drake apologized for how widely the phrase had spread.
Criticism and consequences
In April 2012 The Washington Post called YOLO the newest abbreviation you will hate. In May of that year The Huffington Post described it as stupid.
The expression was linked to risky behavior. In 2012 a young rapper aspiring to a performing career died in a crash with a drunk driver at 120 miles per hour shortly after posting a tweet that ended with the word YOLO. This case is mentioned in reviews of criticism of the phrase.
Thus the expression became both a popular slogan and an object of irony. It continues to be used in jokes and parodies, while serious discussion of risky behavior has become attached to it.
Image and meme
The image shows a character in a green sweater, with a brown muzzle and a tail. He stands by a tree holding a hacksaw, with which, judging by the composition, he is sawing the branch he is standing on. Above him, in large black letters, is written “#YOLO”. The scene conveys recklessness: the action is performed without a safety net and without regard for obvious consequences.
The image does not show the consumption of alcohol or drugs, which the description names as examples. It illustrates the general thesis about reckless acts rather than the specific scenario from the description.
The author of the drawing and the context of its first publication are not known.
