Expanding Lexicon

Expanding Lexicon

Episode 2- SNAFU

03/16/19

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Welcome to Expanding Lexicon the story behind the things we say. Today’s episode is about an acronym.

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An acronym is a word made by taking the the first letters in a series of words and making a new word. This series of letters is pronounceable as its own word without verbal stops. Examples include NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Or ZIP code; zone improvement plan code. Many acronyms are so successful like our example today that we forget the origin words and just use the abbreviation. (Hutchinson)

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The word for today’s episode is SNAFU an acronym created and popularized in the early days of America’s involvement in WW2. (Lend-Lease) The original acronym had several variations during the war and the term has evolved over time to mean something different in modern rendition. During the podcast I’ll use the word effed as a substitute for the more colorful expletive often used by our soldiers.

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Servicemen in WW2 used Snafu to describe a less then desirable scenario when similar less desirable scenarios seemed to be the norm (Towlie).  To those at home the acronym was defined as situation normal all fouled up but to soldiers it meant situation normal all effed up (Polmar).

The first published use of SNAFU was in June 1941 in the San Francisco Chronicle. “Situation Normal All Fuddled Up” Later in June the Kansas City Star relays a story of a mother wondering the meaning of the word SNAFU in a letter from her son. The son’s response “after SNAFU got pretty well spread around, somebody decided it was a bunch of letters that stood for words… situation normal all fixed up” other variations include SUSFU situation unchanged still effed up. SNAFU situation normal all fouled up, and SNEFU situation normal everything effed up.( Dictionary of Modern Proverbs) Other variations included FUBAR effed up beyond all recognition and FUMTU effed up more than usual (Polmar).

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               What was historically used to describe and ongoing but stable series of undesirable scenarios is now used to explain a bad possibly urgent situation (Greenie).  In its present use Snafu has become much less a known acronym and more a word unto itself.  A predicate used to affirm a situation that you find yourself in as bad, confused, or chaotic. Example, “We Ran into a snafu”

(Dental_FlossTycoon). Or “an enormous amount of my time was spent untangling snafus” (Oxford)

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The evolution from military lingo and acronym to predicate word in the everyday lexicon took several decades. Although still defined as slang or informal language (Oxford) a St. Louis news article published March 15, 2019 was titled “Missouri Revenue Director to Resign after Tax Snafu” (AP). From military lingo to headline acceptable language I hope you have enjoyed the history of the word SNAFU.

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Please follow the show on Instagram at expanding lexicon. Check the website for the show notes and bibliography at www.expandinglexicon.wixsite.com/podcast. Feel free to leave comments, stories, episode suggestions or just say hi.

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Thank you for listening to today’s episode. I hope it wasn’t too much of a SNAFU

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Works Cited

"acronym." The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide, edited by Helicon, 2018. Credo Reference, http://proxy.campbell.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/heliconhe/acronym/0?institutionId=3638.

AP. “Missouri Revenue Director to Resign after Tax Snafu.” KMOV.com, 15 Mar. 2019, www.kmov.com/news/missouri-revenue-director-to-resign-after-tax-snafu/article_d2ca775e-4737-11e9-a93e-47b77667ae4e.html.

Dental_FlossTycoon. “SNAFUS.” Urban Dictionary, 10 June 2005, www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=SNAFU.

The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs, Yale University Press, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/campbell/detail.action?docID=3420854. Page 232

Greenie. “S.N.A.F.U..” Urban Dictionary, 11 December 2003, www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=SNAFU.

“Lend-Lease and Military Aid to the Allies in the Early Years of World War II.” U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/lend-lease.

Polmar, Norman, and Thomas B. Allen. “World War II America at War 1941-1945.” World War II America at War 1941-1945, Random House, 1991, p. Snafu.

“Snafu | Definition of Snafu in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Living Dictionaries, Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/snafu.

Towlie. “SNAFU.” Urban Dictionary, 16 May 2003, www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=SNAFU.

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