SNAFU
SNAFU is an acronym that is widely used to stand for the sarcastic expression Situation normal: all fucked up. It is a well-known example of military acronym slang. It is sometimes censored to "all fouled up" or similar.[1] It means that the situation is bad, but that this is a normal state of affairs. The acronym is believed to have originated in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.
In modern usage, SNAFU is used to describe running into an error or problem that is large and unexpected. For example, in 2005, The New York Times published an article titled "Hospital Staff Cutback Blamed for Test Result Snafu".[2] SNAFU also sometimes refers to a bad situation, mistake, or cause of trouble, and it is sometimes used as an interjection.
Origin
Most reference works, including the
The first known publication of the term was by
The attribution of SNAFU to the American military is not universally accepted: it has also been attributed to the British,[6] although the Oxford English Dictionary gives its origin and first recorded use as U.S. military slang.[5]
In a wider study of military slang, Elkin noted in 1946 that there "are a few acceptable substitutes such as 'screw up' or 'mess up,' but these do not have the emphasis value of the obscene equivalent." He considered the expression to be "a caricature of Army direction. The soldier resignedly accepts his own less responsible position and expresses his cynicism at the inefficiency of Army authority." He also noted that "the expression […] is coming into general civilian use."[7]
Similar acronyms
SUSFU
SUSFU is an acronym for Situation unchanged: still fucked up, but can also be
See also
References
- NPR. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
'Situation Normal All . . . All Fouled Up,' as the first SNAFU animated cartoon put it
- ^ "Hospital Staff Cutback Blamed for Test Result Snafu", in: The New York Times, May 19 2005.
- ^ The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943–1944 (part of The Liberation Trilogy) by Rick Atkinson.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c A Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary, R. W. Burchfield, ed., Volume IV Se-Z, 1986.
- Chicago, IL2002, Hugh Rawson.
- S2CID 144746694
Sources
- Hakim, Joy (1995). A History of Us: War, Peace and all that Jazz. New York: ISBN 0-19-509514-6.
External links
- Acronym Finder's SNAFU entry
- How the term SNAFU originated
- SNAFU Principle
- Internet Archive: Private SNAFU – The Home Front (1943) – This is one of 26 Private SNAFU cartoons made by the US Army Signal Corps to educate and boost the morale of the troops.
- The SNAFU Special – Official website of the C-47 #43-15073
- Episode 101 (MP3 6M) of Command Performance from 15 Jan 1944 includes a song about SNAFU by the Spike Jones band.