Amanda Katz, “How ‘YOLO’ Went from Drake to Dictionary” (Boston Globe, Aug. 14, 2014)
Ben Zimmer, our language columnist, promptly tracked YOLO to its source and wrote a column explaining this word so demographically specific that a 21-year-old could be too old to say it, except in air quotes. In August 2012, the term, as Zimmer notes, was already starting to be uncool, trickling into graduation addresses and even appearing in association with Katie Couric, not exactly the epitome of urban teen edge.
But it turned out that a column explaining YOLO was exactly what grown-ups wanted to read. Our YOLO column promptly shot to the top of our “most-read” list – and stayed there, for months. By now it ranks as one of the most popular pieces ever published in Ideas. Now, it has finally made it into at least an online authoritative reference guide. Time from Drake to dictionary: 1017 days.
Read the rest here.