O RLY owl dies

danniemcq

san diego, california (ap) -- jonathan, the snowy owl made famous as the "o rly" owl, has died in captivity in the san diego zoo.

the owl, which was 17 years old, died tuesday afternoon after the sudden onset of pneumonia. he was young for an owl in captivity, however wild owls only live an average of 15 years.

david phillips, executive director of the san diego zoo, said jonathan had been in good health but started showing signs of lethargy and loss of appetite on monday.

"this is a long sad day for us," phillips said.
one of his handlers, dale richards, also said jonathan died quickly. "wechecked his respiration rate and it was a little irregular ... he wasn't doing too well," richards told the associated press. "early in the evening, he passed away."
the textual phrase "o rly?" was first popularized on the somethingawful forums. the phrase was initially one of many used during the fyad sub forum's fad of compressing words by removing unnecessary letters. while "o rly?" is simply shorthand for "oh, really?", the most common image macro comes from 4chan, where for a short while, the word "repost" was word filtered to "owl". the image macro and its attached phrase then spread rapidly throughout the internet.

the "o rly" owl was first created on http://www.offtopic.com after an anonymous user added the phrase to a picture of a snowy owl. 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

jonathon the "o rly" owl had recently started to turn this underground fame into mainstream success with his supporting role in the recent wil shriner blockbuster "hoot". and recently live journal-based musical group local pub band came 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.

nick braden, a spokesman of the humane society of the united states, said veterinarians gave jonathan antibiotics after he showed signs of lethargy thursday, but it wasn't apparent how sick he was.

"they really do die quickly and there was nothing we could do," he said. braden said "it's a really sad moment for us."

http://server5.pictiger.com/img/117505/picture-hosting/orlydeath.jpg

Dave!

lol...



...lol

RobertFoster

He's dead? Ya rly


Edit: Actually, No Wai

wikipedia wrote:

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 first week of February 2006, due to pneumonia. This was a hoax, and in an email statement by the San Diego Zoo, they said, "We have not had that species at the San Diego Zoo for many years and have never had one by that name."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_RLY%3F

Dave!

Damn I shoulda replied with 'O RLY'



So much regret... hurts... my soul...

Scraggs

bird flu??

Basq

Rly?!

Sad.... RIP RLY BIRD!

Dave!

Scraggs wrote:

bird flu??

TheWolf

http://www.orlyowl.com/ohnoes.jpg

Basq

He's not dead - O RLY?!!




.. gonna end every post i make in this thread with O RLY just as a dedication

simu

But he will live forever in cyberspace.

Raphael

Rest in peace little guy. You will not be forgotten.

danniemcq

simu wrote:

But he will live forever in cyberspace.

doesn't everyone?

YeatsCounty

So the O RLY owl is still alive then? NO WAI.

Nick_oliveri

^^ Hehe

Mossy Monk

poor owl, but an owl who could produce such hillarity

see http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5018/jesusorly2su1rp.gif from the humour board

Interceptor

Raphael wrote:

Rest in peace little guy. You will not be forgotten.

Oh yes he/she/it will. We all will.

'cptr

Pigman II

Good! That owl phenomenon was o rly stupid (and not in an endearing "all your bases" way either). Hopefully it will die along with the bird.

projectmayhem

he died? o rly?

(sorry)

The OP

YeatsCounty wrote:

So the O RLY owl is still alive then? NO WAI.

Wow - so original and unpredictable.

arbeitsscheuer

RobertFoster wrote:

Edit: Actually, No Wai

lol... off-topic, but what's the music in the background?
I've always loved that piece, it's often played on TV ads before big sporting "clashes" or what-have-you, but I've never found out its name.

O Rly?
1989-2006
R.I.P.

simu

So, who will be O RLY II???

aidan_walsh

simu wrote:

So, who will be O RLY II???

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=50969626&postcount=8

arbeitsscheuer

simu wrote:

So, who will be O RLY II???

Frankly, I see it as your obligation - nay, your DUTY as a boardsie - to name that sprog who is due in 138 days "O RLY II" in tribute to Jonathan the Snowy Owl.

Ya can't get out of it now simu.

Well, without looking like a cold-hearted wench anyway!:p

simu

SebtheBum wrote:

Frankly, I see it as your obligation - nay, your DUTY as a boardsie - to name that sprog who is due in 138 days "O RLY II" in tribute to Jonathan the Snowy Owl.

Ya can't get out of it now simu.

Well, without looking like a cold-hearted wench anyway!:p

Are you sure? You could have a very angry O RLY turning up on your doorstep and making hooting noises all night in 18 years time!

YeatsCounty

The OP wrote:

Wow - so original and unpredictable.

I never claimed to be original or unpredictable.

stakey

{o,o}
(__(|
-"-"-
NO WAI!