FYI – Ste Drayton

Military slang terms used by various branches of the United States military during World War II.

SNAFU

SNAFU, which stands for the sarcastic expression situation normal: all fucked up, is a well-known example of military acronym slang. It is sometimes bowdlerized to all fouled up or similar. It means that the situation is bad, but that this is a normal state of affairs. It is typically used in a joking manner to describe something that’s working as intended.

The attribution of SNAFU to the American military is not universally accepted: it has also been attributed to the British.

SUSFU

SUSFU (situation unchanged: still fucked up) is closely related to SNAFU.

FUBAR

FUBAR (fucked up beyond all recognition/any repair/all reason), like SNAFU and SUSFU, dates from World War II. The Oxford English Dictionary lists Yank, the Army Weekly magazine (1944, 7 Jan. p. 8) as its earliest citation: “The FUBAR squadron. ‥ FUBAR? It means ‘Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition.”

TARFU

TARFU (totally and royally fucked up or things are really fucked up) was also used during World War II.

BOHICA

BOHICA (bend over, here it comes again) is an item of acronym slang which grew to regular use amongst the United States armed forces during the Vietnam War. It is used colloquially to indicate that an adverse situation is about to repeat itself, and that acquiescence is the wisest course of action.