# Is 'WTF' an obscenity? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 3, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936 "2003-07-03T02:57:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/21 "2003-07-03T16:50:20Z")
I don’t think WTF is a real curse any more than PO’d is. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/22 "2003-07-03T18:16:56Z")
Similarly, SNAFU and FUBAR are commonly used in places where “fuck” would be inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/23 "2003-07-03T18:51:22Z")
WWJD? ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/24 "2003-07-03T19:09:30Z")
Yeh, but SNAFU and FUBAR are funny - like Jeebus. There is something “stick up my butt” about WTF. Unless my mom, who is a god-fearing woman, does it. In which case it’s just pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/25 "2003-07-03T19:10:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Iteki \* > \*\*WTFWJD? > \*\* Hehe, people would buy that as a bumper-sticker. At least, I would. ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/26 "2003-07-03T19:54:45Z")
wtfno ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/27 "2003-07-03T20:22:34Z")
Question: Is “WTF” ever spoken? I’ve never heard anyone say “double-u tee eff” aloud and I only see it in its written form. SNAFU and FUBAR, on the other hand, I have heard in spoken form as they are pronounce-able as words and not spelled out. ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/28 "2003-07-03T21:25:44Z")
Actually, I do know somebody who says “doubleyou tee eff” aloud. It bugs me to no end, because she says it slowly and enunciates every letter, taking longer than it would just to say “whafuck.” She uses it in semi-polite company, so I suppose she feels that it isn’t that much of an obscenity. Personally, in type I feel it isn’t all that offensive - it’s a quick expression of confusion. If you went out of your way to type “what the fuck?!” then there’s more to it than that. And if you say “What the eff?” then that’s just sad. 😉 Me, I either go full-bore with “Fuck!” or (not-so) subtly hide it in a geeky way with “What the frell?” ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/29 "2003-07-04T00:33:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Isabelle \* > \*\*WWJD? \*\* **W** hat **W** ould **J** esus **D** o? (a mnemonic some christians use when faced with a moral dilemma) as opposed to… **W** hat **W** ould **J** oan **J** ett **D** o? or **W** hat **W** ould **G** eorge **J** ones **D** o? ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/30 "2003-07-04T02:38:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwc1970 \* > \*\*Question: Is “WTF” ever spoken? I’ve never heard anyone say “double-u tee eff” aloud and I only see it in its written form. SNAFU and FUBAR, on the other hand, I have heard in spoken form as they are pronounce-able as words and not spelled out. \*\* When I want to use WTF verbally, I say Whiskey Tango Foxtrot… ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/31 "2003-07-04T03:09:02Z")
I remain convinced that the phrase has its origins with smart alex radio-telephone operators of the mid to late 1960s in an obscure and war torn Southeast Asian country. The response to a faint, static and broke transmission when the operator knew who he was dealing with was not “say again your last transmission,” (the proper and approved radio procedure) but was “say again all after ‘what the fuck.’” Not so much a obscenity as a throw off piece of amusing crude language. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/32 "2003-07-04T16:21:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mynn \* > \*\*wtfno \*\* wtfno? wtfnord! ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/33 "2003-07-04T16:40:37Z")
“WTF” is like “B.S.”, a shorthand abbreviation that has less impact, profanity-wise, than if it were spelled out. Except, of course, that you can’t _say_ “WTF”, you can only type it. BTW (another un-pronounceable abbreviation, heh) – “obscenity” is a misnoner in this case. “Profanity” may be “obscenity” to some, but not all “obscenity” is “profanity”. Like how all football players are athletes but…eh, never mind. Too hung over to form cogent sentences this morning. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/34 "2003-07-05T07:10:54Z")
WTF, besides being vulgar, makes no sense. The idea behind the uncompleted phrase “What in hell. . .” is “What has come from hell to bedevil me now?” What’s the full thought behind WTF? “What has come from the land of fuck”? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/35 "2003-07-05T07:41:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*WTF, besides being vulgar, makes no sense. “What has come from the land of fuck”? \*\* All of us, presuming your place of conception was not a petri dish.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/36 "2003-07-05T10:04:43Z")
I use wtf in real life with my friends except I pronouce it “wuh-te-fuh”. Sort of all slurred together. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/37 "2003-07-05T18:37:24Z")
I’m offended more by IMHO, IIRC and YMMV than WTF. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![cabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@cabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/38 "2003-07-05T19:12:58Z")
WTF? expresses that serene moment when your brain refuses to accept the input that it’s been asked to process. Something so moronic, offensive, or anachronistic that your mental flow stops and swirls around the offending item. Then you come out of the skip and respond accordingly. There’s nothing wrong with the occasional interrogative expletive, and WTF? is pretty vanilla in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Physiognomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@The\_Physiognomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Physiognomist)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/39 "2003-07-05T19:16:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shalmanese \* > \*\*I use wtf in real life with my friends except I pronouce it “wuh-te-fuh”. Sort of all slurred together. \*\* Hey, me too. Mainly while talking to myself, though. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936/40 "2003-07-05T19:30:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cabbit \* > \*\*WTF? is pretty vanilla in my opinion. \*\* If you ever try making vanilla ice cream without the vanilla, or accidentally used vanilla yogurt instead of plain yogurt in a recipe, you’ll see how it makes all the difference in the world. Vanilla is _not_ bland. It’s a strong flavor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-wtf-an-obscenity/185936.md?page=3)