SNAFU
Military abbreviation · Military Term
| Stands for | Situation normal: all f***ed up |
|---|---|
| Categories | Military |
SNAFU stands for Situation normal: all f***ed up, a military term abbreviation.
World War II military acronym expressing that chaos and blunders are the normal state of affairs. Lowercased as "snafu," it became an ordinary English word for a mix-up or foul-up.
Example: A paperwork snafu delayed our household goods shipment by a month.
Usage notes
The polite gloss is "situation normal: all fouled up." During the war the Army produced Private Snafu training cartoons, many written by Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), showing what not to do. Most dictionaries list snafu as a standard noun and verb.
Related abbreviations
More military term abbreviations
- SECNAV – Secretary of the Navy
- SERE – Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape
- SIGINT – Signals intelligence
- SIPRNet – Secret Internet Protocol Router Network
- SITREP – Situation report
- SJA – Staff Judge Advocate
- SNCO – Senior noncommissioned officer
- SOFA – Status of forces agreement
- SOP – Standard operating procedure
- SPOTREP – Spot report
- SRB – Selective Reenlistment Bonus
- TACON – Tactical control