O RLY?: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
|||
| Line 15: | Line 15: | ||
Its usage is usually [[sarcasm|sarcastic]]; some have suggested that O RLY? mocks [[America Online|AOL]] speak {{fact}}. O RLY? is often used when another person says something incorrect or blatantly obvious. For example, Person A says "Fire sure is hot!" and Person B would say "O RLY?" to mock him or her. |
Its usage is usually [[sarcasm|sarcastic]]; some have suggested that O RLY? mocks [[America Online|AOL]] speak {{fact}}. O RLY? is often used when another person says something incorrect or blatantly obvious. For example, Person A says "Fire sure is hot!" and Person B would say "O RLY?" to mock him or her. |
||
The phrase has gained such status on the internet that there is even a website (www.orlyowls.com) dedicated to owl pictures and a hi5 group (http://hi5.com/friend/displayGroup.do?groupId=684622) using its name. |
|||
==Origin== |
==Origin== |
||
| Line 28: | Line 30: | ||
[[LiveJournal]]-based musical group '''Local Pub Band''' were the first to come up with a song based around the owl, which is entitled "O RLY?". In the lyrics singer Agniya declares her desire to get to know and her love for the owl.{{fact}} |
[[LiveJournal]]-based musical group '''Local Pub Band''' were the first to come up with a song based around the owl, which is entitled "O RLY?". In the lyrics singer Agniya declares her desire to get to know and her love for the owl.{{fact}} |
||
It was erroneously reported that the O RLY? owl was a Snowy Owl at the San Diego Zoo by the name of Jonathan, and that he died in the |
It was erroneously reported that the O RLY? owl was a Snowy Owl at the San Diego Zoo by the name of Jonathan, and that he died in the fi |
||
==Variations== |
|||
"O RLY?" is also popularly used on different [[anime]]s, especially those with comical expressions on their characters. |
|||
On certain websites, such as ytmnd.com and orlyowl.com, various edits can be found: from "O RRY?" (A play on the stereotypical Asian who has trouble pronouncing the "L" sound) to "O WILLY" (complete with an image from [[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]), and others like "BOB MRLY" (a reference to famous [[reggae]] artist [[Bob Marley]]) and "The O RLY? Factor" (a parody of the [[talk show]] ''[[The O'Reilly Factor]]''). |
|||
There is even a [[Japanese language|Japanese]] rendering, displaying an owl on a hot-air balloon with the text "A HNTO?" across the bottom (''hontō'' being Japanese for "really"). There are also adaptations based on other country cultures, such as France, which display the original Snowy Owl with a beret and short mustache, saying "O VRAIMENT?" (''vraiment'' being French for "really"). There is also a German version, which the same owl is saying "O WIRKLICH?" (''Wirklich'' means "really" in German)<ref>{{citenews|date=[[2005-10-31]]|title=O WIRKLICH|org=orlyowl.com|url=http://orlyowl.com/upload/files/owirklich.jpg}}</ref>. A [[Russia]]n version exists with the owl wearing an old [[Soviet Union|USSR]] [[papakha]] saying "CZAR RLY?"<ref>{{citenews|date=[[2005-10-15]]|title=CZAR RLY|org=orlyowl.com|url=http://orlyowl.com/czarrly.jpg}}</ref>. The [[Canada|Canadian]] version features the owl dressed like a traditional Canadian [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police|mountie]] saying "EH RLY?"{{fact}} |
|||
===O RLY? ASCII art=== |
|||
Because of the image's size an [[ASCII art]] substitute was later created, along with versions for all the off-shoots. This was used, and sometimes still is, on [[Internet forum]]s and [[instant messaging]] programs.{{fact}} |
|||
{| border="0" align="center" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="8" style="border: 1px solid black;" |
|||
|- |
|||
|<pre> ___ |
|||
{o,o} |
|||
|)__) |
|||
-"-"- |
|||
O RLY?</pre> |
|||
|<pre> ___ |
|||
{o.o} |
|||
|)_(| |
|||
-"-"- |
|||
YA RLY!</pre> |
|||
|<pre> ___ |
|||
{o,o} |
|||
(__(| |
|||
-"-"- |
|||
NO WAI!</pre> |
|||
|- |
|||
|} |
|||
==External links== |
|||
*[http://www.orlyowl.com/ orlyowl.com], a site with all the original owls, 2000 user-uploaded owls, and an upload feature. |
|||
*[http://www.orlyowls.com/ orlyowls.com], a site with an active O RLY blog, forums, and user-submitted pictures. |
|||
*[http://www.4chan.org/ 4chan] Birthplace of the O RLY owl, along with many other Internet memes. |
|||
*[http://www.hjo3.net/orly/ gallery] Gallery including original concept |
|||
*[http://yearoftheowl.ytmnd.com/ yearoftheowl.ytmnd.com], an animated [[GIF]] of most of the owl pictures. The music is [[Popcorn_(song)|Popcorn]], performed by [[M & H Band]]. |
|||
*[http://asciiorly.ytmnd.com/ ASCII art of O RLY?], on ytmnd.com |
|||
*[http://www.squirrelnutz.net/kajakalaka Select RLY tool] Site contains a widely used tool for drawing the ASCII O RLY owl in most text fields. |
|||
*[http://orlyliveson.ytmnd.com orlyliveson.ytmnd.com] The truth comes out. |
|||
== References == |
|||
<div style="font-size: 90%"> |
|||
<references /> |
|||
</div> |
|||
[[Category:Internet memes]] |
|||
[[Category:Owls]] |
|||
[[es:O RLY?]] |
|||
Revision as of 23:33, 25 February 2006
O RLY?, short for "Oh, really?" (meaning "Is that so?") is a popular Internet meme, typically presented as an image macro of various people or objects, most notably 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.[citation needed] The YA WAI... owl features a serious face which means that any argument held ends at that moment.[citation needed] Also, notice there are no exclamation points, it is strictly held to the 3 periods which show the feeling of stubborness to some extent.[citation needed]
Its usage is usually sarcastic; some have suggested that O RLY? mocks AOL speak [citation needed]. O RLY? is often used when another person says something incorrect or blatantly obvious. For example, Person A says "Fire sure is hot!" and Person B would say "O RLY?" to mock him or her.
The phrase has gained such status on the internet that there is even a website (www.orlyowls.com) dedicated to owl pictures and a hi5 group (http://hi5.com/friend/displayGroup.do?groupId=684622) using its name.
Origin
While "O RLY?" is shorthand for "Oh, Really?", the most common image macro comes from 4chan, where for a short while, the word "repost" was wordfiltered to "owl"[citation needed]. The image was first seen on /n/, the nature and wild-life board, and brought to /b/, the random board, by an anonymous poster, where the already somewhat popular "O RLY?" phrase was photoshopped in[citation needed]. The image macro and its attached phrase then spread rapidly throughout the Internet, such as YTMND.
The textual phrase "o rly?" was first popularised on the Something Awful forums. The earliest publicly viewable archives of its use range from mid-2003 onwards. Older instances exist in the complete forum archives, but a registration fee is required to view them. The phrase was initially one of many used during the FYAD subforum's fad of compressing words by removing unnecessary letters. Something Awful users created the first image macros using the phrase, but these did not include (registration required) the ubiquitous owl image. Because of the large shared user base (4Chan being founded by Something Awful users) most SomethingAwful memes spread quickly to 4Chan. Use of "O RLY?" on The Awful Forums dwindled in 2004 as moderators would ban users for using the catchphrase.
Naturally, the identity of the O RLY? owl is not known. The owl quickly became popular on 4chan, and then spread to many other community websites such as Fark, spawning many more image macros involving owls. The frequent posting of the O RLY? owl has annoyed some webmasters to the point that the posting of it on some message boards will result in a user ban.[citation needed]
Since then, many other versions of "O RLY" have been created by members of message boards; not all of them feature an owl. One such example features a chair, as pictured.
LiveJournal-based musical group Local Pub Band were the first to come up with a song based around the owl, which is entitled "O RLY?". In the lyrics singer Agniya declares her desire to get to know and her love for the owl.[citation needed]
It was erroneously reported that the O RLY? owl was a Snowy Owl at the San Diego Zoo by the name of Jonathan, and that he died in the fi