You Only Live Once - YOLO

[Laurence Horn]

On Aug 26, 2012, at 8:48 AM, Ben Zimmer wrote:

> I take a look at "YOLO" (possible WOTY candidate?) in my latest Boston
> Globe column, citing Garson on the history of the expanded expression.
> 
> http://b.globe.com/yolobz
> 
> --bgz

Very nice; I'd only suggest one additional data point for the trajectory, the old commercial for Schlitz beer:  "You only go around once in life so you've got to grab for all the gusto you can." (with possible variants on the wording).  Here's one version of the commercial from 1971:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leKu2vEPvGw
Remember, when you're out of Schlitz you're out of beer.

The "gusto" spot is authoritatively ranked as high as 46th greatest commercial of all time: http://www.drewbabb.com/100-greatest-commercials/commercials-page-five.htm.  And it's not dead; a Google search turns it up in a story about Paul Ryan (http://www.journal-advocate.com/sterling-columnists/ci_21318419_), and in a sermon suggesting that it (and presumably the YOLO movement more generally) represents a paradigm at odds with God's (http://www.faithbasedonfacts.org/main/?q=node/80). 


LH
> 
> 
> On Thu, May 24, 2012 at 3:49 PM, Garson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Some students who are about to graduate from High School asked me
>> about a phrase and an acronym that have recently been popularized by
>> hip hop artist Drake. Here is link to a post on the topic:
>> 
>> You Only Live Once – YOLO
>> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/05/24/live-once/
>> 
>> The Yale Books of Quotations has a 1923 citation for “We only live
>> once.” The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs has a 1966 cite for a
>> variant: “You only go around (round) once in life.”
>> 
>> The QI entry above lists some cites in the 1800s. It is not easy (for
>> me) to determine when the phrase is being used as a proverb, motto, or
>> catch phrase. So I included a variety of examples.
>> 
>> Some extended versions of the saying are attributed to the comedian
>> Joe E. Lewis such the following in 1952:
>> 
>> You only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough.
>> 
>> Additional interesting examples would be welcome. Thanks.
> 
> --
> Ben Zimmer
> http://benzimmer.com/
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org