FUBAR
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
FUBAR is an acronym that commonly means "Fucked up beyond any repair", "fucked up beyond all repair", or "fucked up beyond all recognition"; see below for other variations. It is attested in the United States Army and other military settings, as well as civilian environments.
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[edit] Variations
For purposes of euphemism, "fucked" is sometimes replaced with "fouled".
Depending on situation or habit, "any" can be replaced with "all", and "repair" can be replaced with either "redemption", "recognition", "reality", "recovery", "relief", or "reason". The concept is generally the same regardless of the exact wording used.
FUBAR has also commonly been interpreted, especially in a computer science context, as "fucked up but all right", meaning that the system design is fatally flawed, but (as implemented) works anyway.
[edit] Etymology
Electronics engineers say that SNAFU and FUBAR were used before World War II by repairmen sent out to repair phone booths. They had to report the situation at arrival to the scene, often on a very bad line, so they developed these acronyms to make themselves understood.[citation needed]
Computer engineers (esp. those working in the early era of computing) also claimed that FUBAR was an acronym for Failed UNIBUS Address Registers. [1]
"Foo" appeared in a 1938 Warner Bros. Daffy Duck cartoon and the comic strip Smokey Stover, and bar was a popular English word long before that. FUBAR may have been influenced by the German word furchtbar, meaning terrible. It is pronounced with a soft cht, and probably made the transition during World War II. [2]
It is also possible that foobar is a phonological interpretation of the first letters of the Runic alphabet. Like Qwerty and Abcde, this expression might have attracted various computer programmers. In a museum at Aarhus, there is a large wooden bar with the runic inscription f u þ a r, where fu is pronounced like foo. However, the letter þ is actually pronounced like an unvoiced th, not a b (hence the name Futhark for the Runic alphabet).[citation needed]
[edit] Related usage
One of the most popular hacker/demo groups on the Commodore 64 scene in the mid 1980s was FBR – "Fucked Beyond Repair".
Podshow has FUBAR Fridays. At 5 o'clock, all the workers stop what they are doing, hang up all the phones, and have an end of the week party.
In the 1980's, Scottish ski-schools routinely classified pupils in one of two categories: FDB (First Day Beginner); FBR (Fucked Beyond Repair)
There is a tool made by Stanley tools named the FUBAR. It is a wrecking bar with a wrench and hammer as well.
[edit] Physics and mathematics
In physics and mathematics, the "fubar" is an imaginary unit of measure. The primary use of the fubar is to illustrate and demonstrate the complications and errors that often arise when metric and Imperial units are mixed.
[edit] Literature
- F.U.B.A.R.: America's Right-Wing Nightmare (2006) is a book by Sam Seder and Stephen Sherrill.
- "The Fubar Suit" (1997) is the title of a science fiction short story by Stephen Baxter.
[edit] Film and television
- In the 1944 U.S. Army animated short The Three Brothers (directed by Friz Freleng), a character named Fubar is a brother of Private Snafu and Tarfu.
- The term was used frequently in "Full Metal Jacket" (1987).
- The term was used in the movie Tango and Cash (1989).
- In Saving Private Ryan (1998) the term is used by the soldiers in Captain Miller's squad. Corporal Upham, their interpreter, is unfamiliar with it and the others jokingly tell him it's German. He is later shown looking in his German dictionary and remarking: "Hey, I looked up FUBAR in the German dictionary and there's no FUBAR in there."
- FUBAR: The Movie is also the title of a 2002 Canadian mockumentary.
- In the Dark Angel television series, Joshua the dog frequently used it to describe complicated situations.
- In Battlestar Galactica Series 3 Ep 15 A Day in the Life Chief Tyrol uses FUBAR, possibly meaning "Fracked Up Beyond All Repair"
[edit] Real-world usage
- There is a nightclub in Stirling, Scotland called "The Fubar".
- Oxford Brookes University (UK) 's Wednesday night party is called FUBAR
- A bar/ dance club in Waterloo, Canada is called FUBAR. Located at the University Plaza between University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University.
- Chester University, Warrington Campus's (UK) Student Union bar is called the FuBar (Friendly Union Bar)
- Auckland, New Zealand has a nightclub called "FuBar" located on Queen Street.
- The University of Michigan School of Engineering has a snack bar called the "foo bar" located in the Computer Science Engineering building.
- Galway, Ireland - There is a alternative, metal, rock band called FUBAR(Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition). http://www.myspace.com/fubartheband
[edit] Video games
- Foobar vs the D.E.A. - Mac Game (1995)
- Outcast by Infogrames (1999), quote by lead character Cutter Slade: "I think this places this mission just south of FUBAR!"
- "Half-Life: Opposing Force" by Gearbox Software and Valve Corporation (1999), quote from fellow Marines: "This mission is way beyond FUBAR!"
- Stronghold by Firefly Studios (1999), Clicking on a drunk man from an inn a number of times will say his occupation is "FUBAR!".
- Halo: Combat Evolved by Bungie Studios (2001), quote by Sergeant Johnson upon death of the player: "We are FUBAR!", or by marines upon death of the player: "We are so totally FUBAR!".
- Freedom Fighters by IO Interactive (2003), After his boat is partially sunk, a resistance soldier comments to the player, "This whole operation is FUBAR, may as well pack it up and go home!"
- Manhunt by Rockstar Games (2003), Quote by one of the Cerberus guards if they see another Cerberus dead, "Ah, fuck, he's FUBAR." They also use the military acronym SNAFU.
- Full Spectrum Warrior by Pandemic (2004), has a quote by a Jewish Philadelphian 'smart-ass' squad member; "If we ain't careful, the whole mission will be FUBAR."
- World of Warcraft (2004) (FuBar) mod used to add top and bottom interface bars to the UI, similar to Titan Panel.
- Destroy All Humans! by Pandemic Studios (2005), if you read a soldier's mind they will sometimes use the term FUBAR.
- Quake 4 by Raven Software (2005), quote by Lt. Voss: "This situation is looking seriously FUBAR-ED!"
- Gears of War by Epic Games (2006), Quote by Baird: "The situation is FUBAR" while he and another character (Augustus Cole) defend a separate area of the Fenix estate than the player. Also quoted by Marcus Fenix whilst Jack (the robot) is opening a door.
- Armed Assault by Bohemia Interactive (2007) at the beginning of the game one of the soldiers remarks that the fans in the armoured transport vehicle are FUBAR
- Ogame by Ogame In universe 14 there is an alliance named Fubarn (Fuck You Barn), the founder of this alliance is Lord Fubar
- There is a band named FUBAR based in Liverpool, UK
[edit] Related acronyms
There are a number of slang army acronyms that are related to FUBAR. A somewhat standard group includes:
- BOHICA - Bend Over, Here It Comes Again
- JANFU - Joint Army/Navy Fuck-Up
- SNAFU - Situation Normal: All Fucked Up
- TARFU - Things Are Really Fucked Up
- WTF - What The Fuck?
Others include the following:[citation needed]
- BEIFT - Behold, Every Indicator Forebodes Trouble; pronounced "beefed"
- CF - Cluster Fuck
- CHAOS - Chief Has Arrived On Scene
- FISHDO - Fuck It, Shit Happens, Drive On
- FUGAZI - Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In; refers to out-of-control situation such as a chaotic jungle warfare combat environment
- FUBB - Fucked Up Beyond Belief
- FUBER - Fucked Up Beyond Economic Repair
- FUMTU - Fucked Up More Than Usual
- FUNDY - Fucked Up, Not Dead Yet; on British medical charts[3]
- GFU - General Fuck Up
- JAAFU or JAAFFU - Joint Army-Air Force Fuck-Up; the use of JANFU combined with a radical increase in joint-forces operations since 1989, has led to the rare but increasing use of JAAFU/JAAFFU
- MOAFU - Mother Of All Fuck Ups
- MUBAR - Mash Up Beyond All Recognition
- SAMFU - Self Adjusting Military Fuck Up
- SAPFU - Surpasses All Previous Fuck Ups
- SMUBAR - Semi Mash Up Beyond All Recognition
- SUSFU - Situation Unchanged: Still Fucked Up
- TOFU - Things Ordinary: Fucked Up
- TUIFU - The Ultimate In Fuck Ups
[edit] See also
- List of U.S. Army acronyms and expressions
- foobar, a derivative placeholder used in programs
- Website Named FUBAR
- List of medical abbreviations
[edit] References
- ^ "VAX Hardware Handbook",Page 373. Digital Equipment Corporation,1980.
- ^ Network Working Group. RFC 3092 - Etymology of "Foo". 1 April 2001. [Note: despite April Fool's Day release, appears to contain reasonable information.]
- ^ "The Origins and Common Usage of British Swear-Words". Web Article BBC, 2002.
