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]
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]
Origin
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
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]
Appearance in popular culture
On its 2017 album, Nihilista Rock 'N' Roll, the Hungarian punk band HétköznaPICSAlódások features a song called "Geciország" (Jizzland), based on the popular anti-Orbán slogan.
See also
- Putin khuylo!, a similar slogan targeting Vladimir Putin
- Let's Go Brandon, euphemism for "Fuck Joe Biden"
References
Sources
- Az O1G beindította a mémgyárat (Alfahír, 2018. december 18.)
External links
- A Wikipédián is szócikk lett az O1G (HVG, 2018. december 18.)
- A pénz után a Wikipédiát is meghódította az O1G (Index, 2018. december 19.)
- Orbán egy geci - o1g.org