Definition/Meaning of YOLO

• English - Phrase: YOLO (abbreviation, acronym, slang) Acronym of you only live once , i.e. expressing the view that one should make the most of the present moment . Making this cake mix eleven years past the expiration date, because YOLO ! 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…
• English - Verb: YOLO (third-person singular simple present YOLOs, present participle YOLOing, simple past and past participle YOLOed) To make the most of the present moment. 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: Dario Amodei […] has cautioned that if the real numbers go off course, big…
• English - Alternative forms: yolo Y . O . L . O .
• English - 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…
• English - Pronunciation: (UK) IPA: /ˈjəʊləʊ/ (US) IPA: /ˈjoʊloʊ/ Rhymes: -əʊləʊ