# Origin of the "SNAFU" Meme?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-snafu-meme/396438>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 18, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-snafu-meme/396438 "2007-03-18T16:16:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-snafu-meme/396438/1 "2007-03-18T16:16:05Z")

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In WWII some GI coined the acronym “SNAFU,” which stands for “Sitation Normal, All Fucked Up.” With Joseph Heller’s _Catch-22_, we had a humorous novel which gave us a look at the war through SNAFU colored glasses, some decades later _Dilbert_ gave us a similar look at the business world, but was _Catch-22_ the **first** such look at a large endeavor in such a manner? Charlie Chaplin’s _Modern Times_ might fit, but I’ve not seen enough of it to know. I can’t think of anything else that would fit that would be earlier. Any ideas?

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**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-snafu-meme/396438/2 "2007-03-18T16:22:43Z")

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Your Chaplin reference suggests many if not most of the old silent comedies, plus the W.C. Fields, Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, and dozens of other slapstick and physical comedies are fueled by that same outlook.

A few other acronyms from WWII parlance along similar lines:

JANFU  
FAFFH  
FUBAR

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-snafu-meme/396438/3 "2007-03-18T16:31:25Z")

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Specific to SNAFU, it is worth mentioning and linking to [Private Snafu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Snafu) by Frank Capra, Theodore Geisel {Dr. Seuss} and directors like as Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, and Frank Tashlin. P. D. Eastman was a writer and storyboard artist for the Snafu shorts. He was voiced by Mel Blanc.

Jim