# Tranquility Base **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 17, 2017, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tranquility-base/780026 "2017-02-17T03:51:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tranquility-base/780026/41 "2017-03-05T12:44:59Z")
Aside: This is the first time I’ve ever seen anyone other than myself using the word “administrivia”. I _think_ I independently coined it, but I’m not surprised that others have as well. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tranquility-base/780026/42 "2017-03-05T12:48:34Z")
“Administrivia” was bog-standard USAF slang. Might be DoD-wide but I can’t attest to that. My PC’s spell-checker recognizes it without me ever doing [add to dictionary]. I think it’s more widely used than you may think. I also think usage may be declining; it was more from the paperwork era than the fill-out-the-web-form era. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tranquility-base/780026/43 "2017-03-05T13:59:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > And after he got on the ground he went back to the office and worked the rest of his shift doing whatever administrivia he’d planned to do before the near-fatal accident. > > I’ve known some pretty cold dudes. But that takes the cake. If you listen to the actual recordings during the landing when the alarm went off; he actually DOES sound… alarmed. Slightly. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tranquility-base/780026/44 "2017-03-05T16:30:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Aside: This is the first time I’ve ever seen anyone other than myself using the word “administrivia”. I _think_ I independently coined it, but I’m not surprised that others have as well. Down here in Oz Administrivia is a well understood term. Have used it all my adult life. (Working in a university for a lot of that time, we understood the meaning of the word.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tranquility-base/780026/45 "2017-03-06T01:55:32Z")
Well, if I did pick up the word from elsewhere, it certainly wasn’t from the Air Force, as I’ve never served. But yeah, we all know what it means. ---
**Author:** ![JHBoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/13edae/32.png) [@JHBoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JHBoom)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tranquility-base/780026/46 "2017-03-09T19:35:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > “Administrivia” was bog-standard USAF slang. Might be DoD-wide but I can’t attest to that. My PC’s spell-checker recognizes it without me ever doing [add to dictionary]. > > I think it’s more widely used than you may think. I also think usage may be declining; it was more from the paperwork era than the fill-out-the-web-form era. Still in semi-widespread use in the USAF as of 2015. Considering the amount of non-flying stuff the average flying squadron deals with these days, it might even be making a comeback. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tranquility-base/780026.md?page=2)