2023-07-07 07:02:36
“Yolo” has been a common term for a dozen years. If it does come from rap, it has nothing to do with the famous “yo”. And at the risk of surprising you, it’s the modern incarnation of a famous philosophical saying…albeit slightly twisted.
A wise acronym
“Yolo” is the acronym of the English expression “you only live once”. If you forgot the language of Shakespeare, it means “you only live once”. You will have understood: “yolo” is nothing other than the “carpe diem” of modern times. We owe this idea to the Latin author Horace who, in 23 or 22 BC, wrote: “carpe diem quam minimum credula postero” (“seize the present day without worrying about tomorrow”).
A philosophical use… diverted
To live only once is therefore to seize the present day: who knows, after all, how much time we have left in this world. But what young people have especially retained in this story is the part “without worrying about tomorrow”. In other words, “yolo” is mainly used when we talk about doing… anything:
“This exam is going to be yolo. “I packed my suitcase in yolo mode. “This organization is completely yolo. “The term is also used as an interjection: “Come on, who cares. Yolo! »
A word from American rap
It was in 2011 that “yolo” became popular… thanks to a song. Sold over three million copies in the United States, The Motto is a single by Canadian rapper Drake. We find the line “You only live once: that’s the motto, nigga, YOLO. (“You only live once, that’s the watchword, n****, YOLO”). It didn’t take much for “yolo” to become commonplace.
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