# Origin of the expression "Snafu" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-expression-snafu/151598 "2003-01-30T13:52:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rtreeves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/96bed5/32.png) [@rtreeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rtreeves)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-expression-snafu/151598/1 "2003-01-30T13:52:31Z")
What is the origin of the expression “Snafu”? Was this first used in WWII? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-expression-snafu/151598/2 "2003-01-30T14:02:36Z")
From the OED: > [@](#): > > [Acronym f. the initial letters of situation normal: all fouled (or f\*\*ked) up.] > > ``` > A. Used acronymically (often with an explanation) as an expression conveying the common soldier's laconic acceptance of the disorder of war and the ineptitude of his superiors. > > ``` > > 1941 Amer. N. & Q. Sept. 94/2 Snafu, situation normal. 1943 Amer. Mercury Nov. 555/2 Snafupolitely translated as ‘situation normal; all fouled up’, to indicate that things are not going too well. 1946 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. Mar. 419 Interestingly, the expression ‘snafu’, derived from this, ‘Situation normal, all fed up’, is coming into general civilian use. 1966 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 4 Dec. 73/4 GI Jargon… Snafu, Situation normal, all fouled up. 1975 Listener 13 Mar. 349/1 There was a barrack-room mnemonic which fits the ill-starred Dieppe raid: SNAFU, or Situation Normal, All Fouled Up. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-expression-snafu/151598/3 "2003-01-30T14:03:15Z")
My understanding is that it is an acronym for “Situation Normal, All Fouled Up”, meaning a situation that has gone awry or deviated from plan. Not sure of the origin but I believe it was military in nature. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-expression-snafu/151598/4 "2003-01-30T14:06:39Z")
Other useful acronyms: TARFU FUBAR BOHICA ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-expression-snafu/151598/5 "2003-01-30T14:08:34Z")
Have you tried a [dictionary](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=snafu)? > [@](#): > > Function: noun > Etymology: situation normal all fucked up (fouled up) > Date: circa 1941 Sounds like WWII indeed. * * * On preview I see that I’ve been beeten to the punch by **RealityChuck** , with the mighty OED even. I wish to point out that I do believe that in this Merriam-Webster is better informed. I don’t think the F came from _fouled_, which the OED gives as primary explanation. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-expression-snafu/151598/6 "2003-01-30T14:15:35Z")
I was surprised, many years ago, to be told that the original form was not “Situation Normal All Fouled Up”, but Situation Normal All _Fucked_ Up, as noted above. Then I read Allen Sherman’s book **The Rape of the A_P_E** , where he gleefully noted his generation’s Coming of Age in the WWII Army. He says something like: “_Everything_ in the Army was obscene! Even the status reports contained terms like SNAFU (Situation Normal – All Fucked Up), JANFU(Joint Army Navy Fuck-Up), and FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition). (Back home they cleaned it up as “Fouled Up”).” ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-expression-snafu/151598/7 "2003-01-30T16:51:07Z")
The other acronyms mentioned that haven’t been unacronymed are TARFU (Things Are Really Fowled/Fucked Up) and BOHICA (I had to look this one up-Bend Over, Here It Comes Again).