# What does FUBAR mean from Saving Private Ryan?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 26, 2000, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519 "2000-06-26T02:13:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DippyMonger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DippyMonger)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/1 "2000-06-26T02:13:01Z")
What are you reading this for? You know my question!
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### Author:  [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/2 "2000-06-26T02:14:36Z")
I do believe it means “f_cked up beyond all recognition". Variation: "f_cked up beyond all repair”.
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### Author:  [@DippyMonger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DippyMonger)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/3 "2000-06-26T02:15:31Z")
Thankyou for clearing that up for me!
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/4 "2000-06-26T02:16:53Z")
As Allan Sherman noted in his book “The Rape of the A_P_E\*”, as part of the toughening-up process, during WWII even Army situation reports were obscene. Thus we have:
SNAFU: Situation Normal All Fucked Up
JANFU: Joint Army-Navy Fuck Up
and
FUBAR: Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition
He goes on to note that “Back home, the papers changed it to FOULED up.” That’s how my virgin eyes and ears first encountered it. It was YEARS before I learned the truth.
Aren’t you happy you now now?
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### Author:  [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/5 "2000-06-26T02:23:04Z")
SNAFU and FUBAR- I always learned the gentler versions first…“fouled” indeed!!!
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/6 "2000-06-26T02:23:33Z")
And (lest we forget):
BOHICA: “Bend over. Here it comes again!”
FIGMO: “F\*ck it. Got my orders.”
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/7 "2000-06-26T04:49:11Z")
I heard this story somewhere:
A general was being interviewed by a tv reporter and used the acronym SOL. The reporter asked what it meant. Of course the general couldn’t say the actual meaning on tv, so he claimed it meant “soldier out of luck”.
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### Author:  [@argyle87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/argyle87)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/8 "2000-06-26T05:05:15Z")
In Vietnam FUGAZI was an acronym for “Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In”. I found this one in an interview with Ian MacKaye (Frontman of Minor Threat and Fugazi). The interviewer asked him what the name of the band meant, and he related an anecdote about being at a concert and talking to a boy and a girl. The boy asked what the name of the band meant, and before Ian could answer, the girl responded with the acronym. Oddly enough, Ian had never heard of this in his life. Come to think of it, neither had I.
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### Author:  [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/9 "2000-06-26T05:23:31Z")
That’s really interesting, about Ian’s second Great Band. I had heard something similar, that Fugazi took its name from a line in a war picture but had assumed that it was Vietnamese and never bothered to find out what it meant. Thanks for the tip, argyle.
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### Author:  [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/10 "2000-06-26T06:29:31Z")
When I was in the 4th grade, we were studying acronyms. My teacher asked for some examples, and after a brief silence, I blurted out, “SNAFU!”. He went ashen, and took a few seconds to compose himself. He cleared his throat, and asked if anybody had any more. After another couple of seconds, I blurted out again, “FUBAR!” He kind of got jittery, and asked if anybody ELSE knew of any acronyms…
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### Author:  [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/11 "2000-06-26T09:15:22Z")
FUFI – Fucked up. Fixed it.
Circle Jerk – A situation which is far from optimal.
As in, “Chief, square away this circle jerk.”
The kindler, gentler Navy still uses “big boy” words.
I’m also partal to FULASS – Fucked up like a soup sandwich.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/12 "2000-06-26T11:57:04Z")
Charlie-Foxtrot = CF = cluster fuck (syn. FUBAR)
(For a visial, think of this: about a dozen people in a cluster, appendages flailing about everywhere.)
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### Author:  [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/13 "2000-06-26T12:16:21Z")
IIRC, the meaning of FUBAR was a question on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”. They of course said “fouled up”.
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### Author:  [@Hokienautic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokienautic)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/14 "2000-06-26T13:48:36Z")
I work as a proofreader for manuals on how to deal with government regulations … one of our marketing letters recently came to me (before going out) saying that only our manual can help you “avoid the snafus” of some such regulation. Amazingly enough, even AFTER I pointed out what it meant, they let it go through, claiming that snafu is now enough of a part of the language that all vulgarity from the original meaning is meaningless; people (the marketing manager claim) see it only as a word meaning “mess,” not the acronym it originally was.
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### Author:  [@andyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andyman)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/15 "2000-06-26T14:25:49Z")
This thread makes me think of one of my favorite acronyms. I used to be one of 2 guys that ran a network for a daily newspaper, and we were constantly being called. 99.9% of the time the only thing wrong was what he called a PEBCAK - Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard. 😛
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### Author:  [@radar\_ralf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/radar_ralf)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/16 "2000-06-26T14:47:39Z")
F.O., S.O., & T.C. = f\*\*k off, suck out, and take cover
WETSU = we eat this shit up
LAGNAF = let’s all get naked and \*\*\*\*
WGAS = who gives a shit
SH (sierra hotel) = shit hot
FTN = f\*\*k the Navy (or Army, or CG, or MC, or AF)
NFG - no f\*\*king good (also non-functioning gear)
EMS = eat my shorts
And then there was an entire series of shorthand we used to use called “the falcon codes”. The only one that has stayed with me is Falcon269: “Excuse me, sir, but I believe you have me confused with someone who gives a shit.”
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### Author:  [@Mike30](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike30)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/17 "2000-06-26T15:39:05Z")
GF = goat f\*\*\*
…or for younger ears, goat farm or goat festival
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### Author:  [@JamesCarroll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JamesCarroll)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/18 "2000-06-26T15:40:02Z")
SNAFU? FUBAR? BFD!
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/19 "2000-06-26T16:02:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*
> GF = goat f\*\*\*
> …or for younger ears, goat farm or goat festival
> \*\*
Sorry Mike, but on these boards you’ll learn that GF= goat felcher, not f\*\*ker.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2000, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-fubar-mean-from-saving-private-ryan/23519/20 "2000-06-26T20:33:33Z")
Also from the computer world, is RTFM (Read the manual). It also has somewhat less insulting cousins RTFS and RTFB (source and binary, respactively, for those applications distributed without documentation or even source code). I think folks are starting to forget the original meanings of these, too… I once worked for a professor, who perfectly politely told me that we would be using a particular software package, and that I ought to RTFM on certain programs.
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