YOLO

Meanings

1. Acronym of you only live once, i.e. expressing the view that one should make the most of the present moment.

1. To make the most of the present moment.

1. Alternative letter-case form of YOLO.

1. An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Yolo County, California, United States.
2. An unincorporated community in Henry County, Missouri, United States.
3. a village in the Ségou Region of Mali, West Africa.

Etymology

The phrase (not the acronym) "you only live once" dates to the 19th century according to research by Katherine Martin, head of U.S. Dictionaries at Oxford University Press. It saw a steady increase of usage from 1940 to 2000. Ben Zimmer, lexicographer, found the earliest usage of the acronym from 1993, in a trademark filed for YOLO gear with "you only live once" in small lettering. The acronym was popularized around 2011 by Canadian rapper Drake. YOLO was entered into the Oxford English Dictionary as a word on September 12, 2016.