Every time I type the abbreviation “U.S.A.A.F.” in my Eudora e-mail software, Eudora in her fussy way warns me that this may cause offense to the recipient, and highlights the last letters A.F. in red. She labels my indiscretion with three hot chilis in the head of the message, her rating for the most offensive material, and won’t send it unless I reconfirm that I want it sent.
Can anyone tell me what is offensive about the letters “A.F.”? Does it mean something I am not aware of?
U.S.A.A.F., by the way, was the United States Army Air Forces, the Army’s aviation wing from 1941 to 1947, when the U.S. Air Force was created. My father was a veteran of the U.S.A.A.F.
No, when Eudora finds what it thinks is a typo, such as an unknown acronym, it underlines the text and turns it indigo, like this.
When Eudora finds what it thinks is objectionable language, it turns it bright red, and rates its level of objectiveness with one to three hot chili peppers in the header.
Well, considering that Eudora flagged me with three chili peppers for typing the word “ass” in a message (if you can say it on TV, I don’t think it’s that offensive), “AF” could stand for something innocuous like “Aunt Flo”.
However, I can’t get my copy of Eudora to replicate your situation. In fact, it won’t even flag the word “ass” for me now. Oh, it’ll only flag it if you precede it with “your”…as in, “I’ll kick your ass.” That’ll get my keyboard washed out with soap, all right! All that happens if I type “U.S.A.A.F” is that Eudora flags the “F.” as spelled wrong. Weird, huh? Why just the “F.”
Perhaps they think that “A.F.” stands for “ass fucker”…though, I’ve never heard anyone use it that way.