You Only Live Once, also known as YOLO, is being frequently used by the popular media. The term YOLO arose in mainstream society through the song, “The Motto,” sung by Drake, a musician. The basic meaning of the song, “The Motto,” is that people should just enjoy their life. But some people state that the meaning of YOLO implies to not care about one’s life and do whatever one wishes. Teenagers have varying meanings of YOLO. While some people believe that many teenagers are misusing the word, others believe that it is just a saying without a serious meaning.
Although the initial intended meaning of the term, YOLO, was to put in hope and purpose into people’s lives, some believe that this intention has been ruined and is being abused. “YOLO is being misused. People use it as an excuse to do things that aren’t good for you. Like partying and drinking,” stated Melanie Wu, a senior from Cypress High School. Joking, yet dangerous statements regarding “YOLO” appear daily on the social networking system, Comments such as, “I ditched school. YOLO,” do not have a positive impact on to the teenage society.
Some people do not consider YOLO any more significant than other trends. “I think using YOLO is fine. It’s just a passing trend so it’ll get over used, like any other trend,” said Edgar Jaramillo, a junior from Cypress High School. Different sayings have been used frequently in the past, phrases such as “that’s what she said,” was popularly used in the past, but are not used as much anymore.
Putting the controversies aside, some people state that the appropriate usage of YOLO depends on the context and situation, “It just depends on when it is used since some people just randomly throws it out even when it is inappropriate,” said Justin Park, a junior from Cypress High School.
Interesting article and topic, Christina! ‘YOLO’ is used quite often in my school as well–at random times and sometimes too often. For elections at my school, they created the term ‘YOVO’ (You Only Vote Once)! Fascinating, huh? Cool how far teen trends can go…