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O1G

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Orbán 1 geci, in logo form as it is sometimes displayed
Guy Verhofstadt
@guyverhofstadt
 Twitter logo, a stylized blue bird

People are fed up with Orbán & co and they are ready to push back, starting by demanding free media. Your place is in Europe my friends, keep up Hungarian #democracy! 📣 #O1G #Budapest

16 Dec 2018[1]
O1G graffiti on the wall in underpass of train station of Agárd

O1G is a meme that became a political symbol of the public protests against the government leadership of Viktor Orbán of Hungary. O1G is an acronym of the country-wide popular term Orbán egy geci, which roughly translates to Orbán is a motherfucker in English, with egy meaning both one (hence the 1 in the abbreviation), as well as the article a. The word geci is a vulgar term for semen, widely used in slang to describe an especially unpleasant person.[2] The abbreviation has become a communication tool in international politics, after Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group of European Parliament, used the #O1G hashtag in a Twitter message supporting the Hungarian anti-government demonstrations.[3]

Origin

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The origins of the term can be traced back to "G-day"[4] when Fidesz-backed businessman and oligarch Lajos Simicska in February 2015 openly clashed with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after several top managers of his media interests had resigned. The enraged Simicska put a strong emphasis in the interviews with several Hungarian news outlets that Orban is "jizz".[5][6] The backdrop of the conflict was that the government, which levied a significant tax for ad revenues against media outlets with high revenues, also hit Simicska's Hír TV, which led to a struggle with Orbán's leadership. The clash of the two, which became known as the Orbán–Simicska conflict, resulted in an open political and media war,[7] and among the results were that the formerly Orbán-supporting Hír TV became one of the most important voices of opposition until the new turnaround in August 2018.[8]

Symbolical meaning

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The abbreviation (O1G) appeared for the first time in December 2017 on the Internet and later, a more sophisticated, simplified symbol was launched on the commentary section of 444.hu, by an unknown graphic artist named regor,[9] which at the end of 2017 was popularized by the unknown and former graffiti artist named "Simicska of Buda", on his Facebook and Tumblr sites.[10] As a result of the December 2018 wave of protests, the O1G symbol became widely used in objection against the Orbán government and his Fidesz party-led parliament on Facebook profiles and also appeared on a number of banknotes,[11] on coins,[12] banners, sidewalk graffiti, and public light projections. Some public figures began adopting the term as a political expression, including the Belgian politician Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.[3] Its dissemination, similarly to other Internet memes, is predominantly important in various opposition political communities, while government-friendly media outlets try to remove it from the public discourse,[13] or attempt to discredit it as immoral, vulgar, and unacceptable.[14]

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On its 2017 album, Nihilista Rock 'N' Roll, the Hungarian punk band HétköznaPICSAlódások [hu] features a song called "Geciország" (Jizzland), based on the popular anti-Orbán slogan.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Guy Verhofstadt [@guyverhofstadt] (16 Dec 2018). "People are fed up with Orbán & co and they are ready to push back, starting by demanding free media. Your place is in Europe my friends, keep up Hungarian #democracy! 📣 #O1G #Budapest" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Fejes, László (2015-02-09). "Honnan jön a geci?" [Where does jizz come from?]. nyest.hu (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 2018-12-19. Retrieved 2018-12-19. Geci's meaning in general [in this context] is 'malicious, evil, conniving' - probably used by Simicska in this meaning as well.
  3. ^ a b Shaun Walker (2018-12-18). "Hungary's opposition plans more protests after 'slave law' passes". theguardian.com. Archived from the original on 2018-12-19. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  4. ^ András Jámbor (2016-08-31). "Fidesz set to increase its control of Hungarian media". politicalcritique.org. Archived from the original on 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  5. ^ Spirk József (2015-02-16). "Lajos Simicska: I'll fire all Orbanistas". Index.hu. Archived from the original on 2018-12-26. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  6. ^ "Simicska: Viktor Orbán is jizz, I'll fire all Orbanistas". HVG.hu. 2015-02-06. Archived from the original on 2018-12-19. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  7. ^ Krisztina Than, Marton Dunai (2015-02-06). "Hungarian oligarch turns on his former ally PM Orban". reuters.com. Archived from the original on 2017-10-07. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  8. ^ "Emboldened Viktor Orbán cracks down on friend turned foe". theguardian.com. 2018-08-12. Archived from the original on 2018-11-16. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  9. ^ https://diogenes1001.tumblr.com/post/168402163116/a-budai-simicska-%C3%BCzemzavart-okozott-az-orb%C3%A1n-egy [dead link‍]
  10. ^ "A Budai Simicska - O1G". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  11. ^ Marczisovszky Márton (2018-12-17). "Elég drága szórólapok készülnek". Index.hu. Archived from the original on 2018-12-18. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  12. ^ Marczisovszky Márton (2018-12-17). "Már aprón és húszezresen is pörög az O1G". Index.hu. Archived from the original on 2018-12-18. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  13. ^ Medvegy Gábor (2018-08-27). "Public Works revealed why they remove any graffiti so quick critical of Orbán". 24.hu. Archived from the original on 2018-12-19. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  14. ^ Szentesi Zöldi László (2018-04-23). "Letter to the Saturday demonstrators". 888.hu. Archived from the original on 2018-12-19. Retrieved 2018-12-19.

Sources

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