Computer Problem Forum

O RLY? is an Internet phenomenon, typically presented as an image macro featuring a Snowy Owl. The phrase "O RLY?" ("Oh, really?") is typically used in a sarcastic or sardonic manner, often in response to a statement that the speaker feels is obvious, or blatantly false and/or self-contradictory. Some internet forum trolls may also reply "O RLY?" in response to a lengthy or overly detailed post. This term is also used in a friendly conversation, the response to "O RLY" being "YA RLY" ("Yeah, really") and so forth, repeating this.

History

The phrase "O RLY?" was used on the Something Awful Forums at least as early as August 2003. 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. The snowy owl image was photoshopped on 4chan after the word filtering of the word "repost" to "owl".

Use in commercial works

• In the Game Boy Advance game Mega Man Battle Network 6 , if the player tries the Humor program at Cyber Academy, Lan responds to a certain joke with "O Rly?" and MegaMan.EXE replies with "Ya Rly!". Also, if the player tries it at the Expo Site, there is a "No Wai!" joke.
• In the Xbox 360 version of the football game Blitz: The League , one of the hidden gamer achievements is called "O RLY?" It is earned by losing a Campaign Mode game by more than 24 points. The image of this achievement is, appropriately enough, of a snowy owl.
• In the Nintendo DS game Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, one of the characters is named Olga Orly, a clear reference to this phenomenon.
• The promotional video announcing the American license of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya , "Adventures of the ASOS Brigade Episode 00: Made by Fans for Fans," features a short segment using pictures with the caption "O RLY?" in both English and Japanese. The segment starts with Yuki Nagato making a statement in Japanese, with an "O RLY?" image displayed, and with her replying, in Japanese, "Really." The segment ends with another picture saying "NO WAI!"
• In the MMORPG EverQuest 2 , Orly and Yarly are two Hooluk (owl-like race) NPCs that stand above the portal on Whisperwind Isle in The Barren Sky.
• In the MMORPG RuneScape , if "All your base are belong to us" is entered into the notes section, it will be replaced with "Orly", and, if "Orly" is entered into the notes section, it will be replaced with "Yarly". In addition, the Phrase is mentioned in a conversion with the saradomin owl pet, which resembles a snowy owl.
• In the text-based game Alter Aeon, ORLY is an emote that players can use, which results in "hooting" at another player.
• Blizzard also refers to the O Rly? phenom with two npc's named Auctioneer Yarly and Auctioneer O'Reely, as well as an owl npc named O'Reily in the game World of Warcraft. The game also includes many other subtle references to internet memes.
• In the Nintendo DS game Scribblenauts, writing "ORLY" or "YARLY" into the notepad will spawn an owl.
• In the Webcomic Erfworld, one of the units used as scouts by the coalition in the first book were lolspeak-using snowy owls known as Orlys.

Computer worm

On May 10, 2006, anti-virus company Sophos discovered a computer worm known as "W32/Hoots-A", which sends a graphical image of the snowy owl to a print queue when it infects a Windows-based computer.

See also

• Lolcat
• Image macro

References

1. ^ Jerry Langton (2007-09-22). "Funny how `stupid' site is addictive" . http://www.thestar.com/living/article/257955 . Retrieved 2008-05-24 .  
2. ^ Fantastipotamus (2003-08-30). "What was the weirdest/funniest answer you ever put on a test?" . http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=677909 . Retrieved 2007-02-14 .  
3. ^ John White (2001-02-17). "Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca)003 - Silly lookingface" . http://animalpicturesarchive.com/animal/ViewImg.cgi?img=a7/Snowy_Owl_Nyctea_scandiaca_005-by_John_White.jpg . Retrieved 2007-01-20 .  
4. ^ "4chan word filter thread" . http://4-ch.net/dqn/kareha.pl/1123315554 . Retrieved 2006-11-07 .  
5. ^ Capcom Production Studio 2. Mega Man Battle Network 6 . (Capcom).
6. ^ "Blitz: The League Achievement List" . http://xbox360achievements.org/achievements.php?gameID=159 . Retrieved 2007-06-10 .  
7. ^ "Court Records - Characters from Apollo Justice" . http://www.court-records.net/chara4-1.htm#masaka . Retrieved 2007-01-20 .  
8. ^ "ASOS Brigade - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" . http://asosbrigade.com/ . Retrieved 2007-01-20 .  
9. ^ Allakhazam listing for Orly
10. ^ Allakhazam listing for Yarly
11. ^ Alter Aeon social listing for ORLY
12. ^ Staff Writers (2006-05-12). "Sophos discovers hooting virus". crn.com.au . http://www.crn.com.au/story.aspx?CIID=37699 . Retrieved 2006-07-16 .  
13. ^ "Crazy owl preys on network printers, Sophos reports on Hoots worm". Sophos. 2006-05-11 . http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2006/05/hoots.html . Retrieved 2006-07-16 .  

• Stephen Phillips (2006-01-18). "Internet Term of the Week". The Independent Tiger Weekly . http://tigerweekly.com/article/01-18-2006/1524 . Retrieved 2008-03-30 .  

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