So I'm sure everyone here knows what yolo means "you only live once". It's that crappy saying people use as an excuse for doing something dumb or something that doesn't benefit the person in anyway at all, such as not studying for a test. (Haven't studied for exams yet. #yolo ;D )
This acronym (yolo) actually originated from a song called, you guessed it, "You Only Live Once" by The Strokes. This isn't the only song, of course, many others include this overused line.
The saying itself, you only live once, is a variation of a phrase "one lives but once in the world" by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, in a play called 'Clavigo'.
Now because of it's increased popularity, youth of today have actually said they use this as their motto. Even a few celebrities (Zac Efron...) have tattoo'd YOLO to themselves.
Sure, there may be a few good uses of this acronym, but otherwise, in my opinion it's a very stupid saying and I have come to hate it. It's not even just used on Twitter, I've had conversations with people where they actually say "yolo" and are serious about it. Please. No.
Okay so sure there are.. various grammatical errors but this person here is trying to tell you to be yourself. This is an example of how the use of #YOLO can be used for good. Telling you, you only have one life to live, so don't spend it trying to be someone else but instead be you. Not bad.
But then there are posts like this, and trust me, I tried to get the least face-desk worthy.
Wow. So because 'you only live once', you're practically going to show up naked for school, just because it's the last day. Amazing. No seriously, it's a good idea. I mean, let's break every rule just because we only live once. Let's steal a car while we're at it!
....
I'd imagine you would get in trouble, yes.
So clearly the saying 'you only live once' was meant to be a good thing, a catchy phrase for a song, but as it continues to be used, it becomes an excuse for people to do dumb things.
I don't recommend following it.
Wow I just realized I didn't actually bleep the people's Twitter names out properly... Oh well.. #yolo
Most of the songs these days containing Yolo are using it saying stupid things that people do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Otla5157c is a song by Lonely Island called Yolo that is telling our generation not to do stupid things; their reason? "yolo". One of the lines in their song is "You know that we are still young. So don't be dumb. Don't trust anyone, Cause you only live once." So in short Lonely Island created a song that despite their comedic intentions, actually has a meaningful meaning.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the meaning of yolo was supposed to be a good thing, to remind people that you really do only live once so you should make the most out of life and do everything you want to accomplish because you'll never get the same opportunity to do so. However I think that social media and rappers turned it into a negative trend, which caused people to act out in ridiculous ways and say they did it because "yolo". Now it's just an excuse for people to do stupid things and think they'll get away with it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Madison, I'm not sure if it was created with a good intent or if it was just some 12 year old doing something stupid and looking for a 'funny' hashtag but it definitely has the potential to have a great meaning. If someone actually lived by this motto, it would encourage them to not waste away their life and instead, live it to the fullest. Actual use of the slang term makes no sense; "I only get one life, one chance to get things right, therefore lets do something stupid that could ruin it #yolo"
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