thumb|right|[[Private Snafu was a series of instructional cartoons devised by Frank Capra and produced by Warner Brothers animators such as Chuck Jones for the US Army during World War II.|232x232px]]

thumb|200x200px|The song "SNAFU, What is the Meaning of SNAFU?" was sung by Mitzi Mayfair, Carole Landis, and Martha Raye for the 1944 film [[Four Jills in a Jeep. The scene would be cut from the final release of the film, but existed independently and is still available.]]

SNAFU is an acronym that is widely used to stand for the sarcastic expression "Situation normal: all fucked up". It is an example of military acronym slang. The phrase "all fucked up" is sometimes replaced with "all fouled up" or similar. It means that the situation is bad, but that this is a normal state of affairs. The acronym is believed to have originated in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, particularly as the nickname of USMC Corporal Merriell Shelton.

In modern usage, SNAFU is used to describe running into an error or problem that is large and unexpected. For example, in 2005, The New York Times published an article titled "Hospital Staff Cutback Blamed for Test Result Snafu". SNAFU also sometimes refers to a bad situation, mistake, or cause of trouble, and it is sometimes used as an interjection.

Origin

Most reference works, including the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, supply an origin date of 1940–1944, generally attributing it to the U.S. Army. Rick Atkinson ascribes the origin of SNAFU, FUBAR, and many other terms to cynical GIs ridiculing the army's penchant for acronyms.

The first known publication of the term was by The Kansas City Star, on 27 July 1941. It was subsequently recorded in American Notes and Queries in the September 1941 issue (which the Oxford English Dictionary in 1986 credited as the term's first appearance). Time magazine used the term in its 16 June 1942, issue: "Last week U.S. citizens knew that gasoline rationing and rubber requisitioning were snafu." although the Oxford English Dictionary gives its origin and first recorded use as U.S. military slang.

Similar acronyms

SUSFU<!--'SUSFU' redirects here-->

SUSFU<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> is an acronym for Situation unchanged: still fucked up, but can also be minced—just like SNAFU—to Situation unchanged: still fouled up. It is used in a military context and was first recorded in the American Notes and Queries (ANQ) in their September 1941 issue.

See also

  • Acronym slang in the military
  • List of government and military acronyms

References

Sources

Further reading

  • "Spanning from the to the ... SNAFU ... offers ... insights that ... might [help] prevent history from repeating itself again and again."
  • Acronym Finder's SNAFU entry
  • How the term SNAFU originated
  • SNAFU Principle
  • Internet Archive: Private SNAFU – The Home Front (1943) – This is one of 26 Private SNAFU cartoons made by the US Army Signal Corps to educate and boost the morale of the troops.
  • The SNAFU Special – Official website of the C-47 #43-15073
  • Episode 101 (MP3 6M) of Command Performance from 15 January 1944 includes a song about SNAFU by the Spike Jones band.