SNAFU is an acronym that stands for situation normal: all fucked up. It is sometimes bowdlerized to all fouled up or similar.[1] In simple terms, it means that the normal situation is in a bad state, as it always is, therefore nothing unexpected. It is usually used in jest, or as a sign of frustration. The acronym is believed to have originated in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.
In modern usage, snafu is sometimes used as an interjection. Snafu also sometimes refers to a bad situation, mistake, or cause of trouble. It is more commonly used in modern vernacular 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".[2]
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As used in a military context, "SNAFU" was first recorded in American Notes and Queries in their September 1941 issue.[3] Time magazine used the term in their June 16, 1942 issue: "Last week U.S. citizens knew that gasoline rationing and rubber requisitioning were snafu."[3] 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 a bevy of other terms to cynical GIs ridiculing the Army's penchant for acronyms.[4]
The attribution of "SNAFU" to the American military is not universally accepted. It has also been attributed to the British.[5]
In a wider study of military slang, Elkin noted in 1946 that there "are a few acceptable substitutes such as 'screw up' or 'mess up,' but these do not have the emphasis value of the obscene equivalent." He considered the expression to be "a caricature of Army direction. The soldier resignedly accepts his own less responsible position and expresses his cynicism at the inefficiency of Army authority." He also noted that "the expression ... is coming into general civilian use."[6]
At least three songs from that era can be traced that either are titled "SNAFU" or feature "SNAFU" as part of discussion including:
Vanilla Ice has a song on the album "Hard To Swallow," called SNAFU
Prog band East of Eden published an album called Snafu in 1970.
Carole Landis and Martha Raye performed a skit about SNAFU sometime during the war.[9]
The Army and Warner Bros. Cartoons produced training cartoons during WWII featuring a character called Private Snafu who always did the wrong thing.
Robert Anton Wilson discusses the meaning of his "SNAFU" principle in his Illuminatus! Trilogy through the character Hagbard Celine. He also explains it in Prometheus Rising.
Snafu was the name of a British rhythm and blues/rock-band of the 1970s.
Snafu was a game published for the Intellivision gaming console (Mattel Electronics) and featured "snakes" that had to box each other in or eat each others' tails to win.
A character in the HBO Miniseries The Pacific is known as SNAFU: Cpl. Merriell Shelton, played by Rami Malek.
The game Screwball Scramble was once released in the U.S. under the name Snafu.
SUSFU is an acronym for Situation unchanged: still fucked up, but can also be bowdlerized—just like SNAFU—to Situation unchanged: still fouled up or similar. It is used in a military context, was first recorded in American Notes and Queries in their September 1941 issue. 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, an American battlefield reporter, ascribes the origin of SUSFU, SNAFU, FUBAR and a bevy of other terms to cynical GIs ridiculing the Army's penchant for acronyms.[10]