O RLY? (2003)

released Dec 12, 2008 at 08:10PM UTC

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Origin

“O RLY?” originated on the Something Awful forums, where it was used as a deadpan response to anything you found doubtful, unimpressive or just plain dull. On 4chan it was ’shopped onto an image of an incredulous snowy owl and quickly spread out of control.

An animated GIF & Flash version featuring dialogue between 3 birds has emerged, as well as innumerable ’shops.

Controversy

The original “O RLY?” Snowy Owl image macro is based on a photo taken by nature photographer John White, which he posted to the newsgroup alt.binaries.pictures.animals in 2001. He has since sent numerous cease & desists to those using the image.
Photo origin verified here.
Emails from John White to a John Rowly can be found here.

Usage

The correct response to “O ORL?” is “YA RLY”, often with the picture of a stern looking brown owl. The correct response to this, of course, is “NO WAI!”