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.
Meanings
To make the most of the present moment.
Dario Amodei […] has cautioned that if the real numbers go off course, big spenders could face bankruptcy as a result of “Yolo-ing” on capital expenditure, a reference to some of his peers' you-only-live-once exuberance. 2026 March 28, John Foley, quoting Dario Amodei, “Can Big Tech profit from AI spree?”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7:
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.
Meanings
(abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, slang) Acronym of you only live once, i.e. expressing the view that one should make the most of the present moment.
“Well, it's too late to turn back now, Brandon,” Ana said. “And anyway… YOLO, right?” Brandon looked like he was about to explode, but finally he rubbed his eyes and nodded. “Yeah. YOLO.” 2014, Sam Jones, yolo, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 132:
“It made me come to this conclusion of, I don’t know, YOLO, let me just try this,” he said. 2021 March 24, Charlie Warzel, quoting James Young, “What Are You Paying for When You Buy a GIF for $25,000?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 24 Mar 2021:
Making this cake mix eleven years past the expiration date, because YOLO!
Individual YOLO decisions can be chalked up to many factors: cabin fever, low interest rates, the emergence of new get-rich-quick schemes like NFTs and meme stocks. 2021 April 21, Kevin Roose, “Welcome to the YOLO Economy”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 21 Apr 2021:
fr on ne vit qu’une fois (you only live once) · nl je leeft maar één keer (you only live once) · pl Raz się żyje! (you only live once) · nl yolo (you only live once) · de YOLO (you only live once) · sv man lever bara en gång (you only live once) · hu Egyszer élünk! (you only live once) · es solo vives una vez (you only live once) · fi kerran sitä vain eletään (you only live once) · gl só se vive unha vez (you only live once) · pl Raz kozie śmierć! (you only live once) · es solo se vive una vez (you only live once) · fr on n’a qu’une vie (you only live once) · ja 一度きり (you only live once)