If people weren’t already aware of the fact that they only live once, praise Jesus for the YOLO bandwagon. If you gathered that YOLO stood for “you only live once,” you’re correct. This old, common saying has now been condensed into a lovely acronym thanks to rapper Drake’s “The Motto.”
I, of course, agree with the message as it’s always important to remember that life is short. One should always seize the opportunities that lie in front of them. However, I can’t say I’m feeling all of this YOLO business lying in front of me as of lately. Upon learning of this acronym on Tumblr a couple months ago, I found it very clever. I still find it clever on Drake’s behalf but it has now become widely overused. Tweets are plastered with ‘#YOLO’ and it has even worked itself into everyday conversation.
Not only that, but there’s a fine line between hilarious yet realistic and embarrassingly pointless when it comes to YOLO statements. “I just made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich” is not applicable with YOLO. Isn’t that just a fact? A proper YOLO statement might be, “Teaching my grandma how to belly dance.”
This trend is peaking right now; make your YOLO jokes effective or get ridiculed by those irritated with this popular trend.