O RLY?

File:Orly.jpg

The original O RLY owl

O RLY?, short for "Oh, really?", is a popular Internet meme, typically presented as an image macro of a snowy owl with the words "O RLY?" superimposed. Other common images include a different owl with "YA RLY" ("Yeah, really"). The usual conversation flow, including the meme, starts with O RLY?, followed by YA RLY!, then sometimes ending with the NO WAI! owl. An additional exchange of SRSLY? SRSLY! (seriously) or YA WAI! (yeah way) is sometimes incorporated. R U SR (Are you sure) might also be used, but more rarely.

Origin

Though the true origin of the O RLY? catchphrase is unknown, typically it is simply a shortened version of "oh really" which was commonly used throughout the internet and spread through chat rooms and bulletin boards. Over time, the phrase has become more of an inside joke in many communities as people will frequently say "o rly" as a way to express disbelief of something which seems silly or absurd. Unlike the catchphrase, the origin of the O RLY owl is known. The O RLY owl was first created on 4chan after a random user photoshopped the phrase onto a picture of an owl. The owl quickly became widespread amongst many community websites such as fark.com, spawning many new image macros involving owls typically for juvenile amusement value. After the creation of the O RLY owl it was reposted and modified frequently, usually in response to various subjects, and usually for comedic value. The O RLY owl eventually spread to other web sites, spawning even more variation. The O RLY owl has recently reached a point of annoyance whereas the simple posting of the O RLY owl on some message boards will result in the banning of the sender's IP address.

In Other Languages

• Danish - NÅH VRKLG? JA VRKLG! (Nåh, virkelig? Ja, virkelig!)
• Dutch - O EHT? JA EHT! (Oh, echt? Ja, echt!)
• English - O RLY? YA RLY! (Oh really? Yeah, really!)
• Finnish - IHA TOS? KYL TOS! (Ihanko totta? Kyllä totta!)
• French - O VRMNT? OUI VRMNT! (Oh vraiment? Oui, vraiment!)
• German - O WRKLK? JA WRKLK! (Oh wirklich? Ja, wirklich!)
• Italian - O DAVVRO? SÌ DAVVRO! (Oh, davvero? Sì, davvero!)
• Spanish - ¿O RLMNT? ¡SÍ RLMNT! (¿Oh realmente? ¡Sí, realmente!) or N SRIO? N SRIO! (¿En serio? ¡En serio!)

External links

• orlyowl.com, a gallery with the original owl as well as many spin-offs,user uploaded images, forum and blog.
• orlyowls.com, a site with many O Rly owls and a forum dedicated to O RLY
• gallery
• yearoftheowl.ytmnd.com, an animated GIF of most of the owl pictures. The music is Popcorn, preformed by M & H Band.
• [1] Additional own catchphrase pictures, user created. Lots of them.
• O Rly? Shirt A popular shirt featuring the O Rly? owl.
• an O RLY parody in wallpaper featuring pianist Christopher O'Riley