[Ads-l] Snasu (variant), was Re: Antedating of "Snafu" by Barry Popik

Tue Nov 24 22:22:55 UTC 2020

I sent the following to Charlie Doyle in 2009:

>The following -fu's have appeared in running texts (i.e., not just in
lists of funny words).  All postdate SNAFU; most all appeared during or are
recalled from WWII:

>FUBAR: "...beyond all recognition" or "...repair."
TARFU: "...things are really..."
TARFUBAR: (as above).
SUSFU: "situation unchanged, still..."
JANFU: "joint Army-Navy..."
SNEFU: "situation normal, everything..."
FUMTU: "...more than usual."

>Poorly documented (possibiy idiosyncratic):

>JACFU: "joint American-Chinese..."
JAAFU: "joint Anglo-American..."
FUAFUP: "...and...proper."<

JL

On Tue, Nov 24, 2020 at 5:19 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Perhaps of interest, from 2006. Check the archives for some context:
>
>
> > "CYA" and "FTA" are not only genuine, they're very well documented.
> Also familiar to HDAS are BOHICA, BUFF, (FT) EUSTIS, DILLIGAF, FIDO, FIGMO,
> FNG, FUBAR, HMFIC, I&I, MRE, OMGIF, PFC, SNAFU, SWAG, TARFU, USMC ("Uncle
> Sam's Misguided Children"). Some of these go back to WWII.
>
> >Still others that come to mind are DILLIGAS ("...a shit"), WTF?, USMC
> ("Uncle Sam's Moldy Crotch"), FUJIGMO ("Fuck you, Jack, I Got My Orders"),
> FUBIS ("...Buddy, I'm Shipping"), TARFUBAR, SUSFU ("Situation Unchanged,
> Still...").
>
> >There's a chigger whose scientific monicker is _Tribicula fujigmo_.  For
> details, as well as other bizarre Linnaean names (including the fly
> _Phthiria relativitae_), see [
> http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/menke.html].<
>
> I omitted "DILLIGAF."
>
> American Notes & Queries also has a "SNAFU" from 1941.
>
>
>
> JL
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 24, 2020 at 4:57 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <
> adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks Stephen. I agree that the "snasu" variant is interesting. Many
>> thanks, Ben, for locating my message about "snasu" from the
>> antediluvian age.
>>
>> I just located an interesting instance of "S N A F U" in March 1940.
>> Unfortunately, this "S N A F U" might be illusory. See the following
>> description.
>>
>> Date: March 12, 1940
>> Newspaper: Detroit Evening Times
>> Newspaper Location: Detroit, Michigan
>> Section: Detroit Times Daily Magazine Page
>> Article: Wishing Well (puzzle)
>> Quote Page 12, Column 5
>> Database: Newspapers.com
>> Database: British Newspaper Archive
>> Database: GenealogyBank
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> WISHING WELL
>>
>> 4 3 6 5 8 2 4 6 7 3 5 8 4
>> B A S N A F U U R C E C Y
>>
>> 2 6 7 3 8 4 6 5 8 7 2 4 6
>> L C E O T T C W O U A H E
>>
>> 4 3 6 5 7 8 4 2 6 8 3 5 6
>> E M S I N N U T S I P N I
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Above are the top six rows from a puzzle with 14 rows. The puzzle
>> contains the following contiguous sequence of five letters "S N A F
>> U". The puzzle also contains the following sequence "N U T S".
>>
>> It is possible that a mischievous puzzle constructor deliberately
>> inserted "S N A F U" and "N U T S". However, the solution to the
>> puzzle is unrelated to these sequences, so I guess we have to assume
>> that these sequences were simply coincidental.
>>
>> I also came across another variant acronym "Susfu" with a June 1942
>> citation. The meaning is not explained in this citation, but I found
>> another instance that decoded the first two letters as "Situation
>> unchanged"; hence, "Situation unchanged still fouled up".
>>
>> Date: June 25, 1942
>> Newspaper: The Jersey Journal
>> Newspaper Location: Jersey City, New Jersey
>> Article: Signal Corps Work Vital in Modern War
>> Author: Martin Gately (Staff Reporter)
>> Quote Page 2, Column 5
>> Database: Newspapers.com
>> Database: GenealogyBank
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> The newsmen, accompanied by officers, were taken through the Signal
>> Corps Technical Schools, where, among other things, they were
>> initiated into the meaning of such phrases as "Snafu" and "Susfu."
>> Among the schools visited was the code building where the men who
>> tapped out the last messages from Bataan were taught.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Garson
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 24, 2020 at 12:46 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Back in 2009, Garson O'Toole found the "snasu" variant in Time magazine,
>> > Aug. 18, 1941.
>> >
>> > ---
>> >
>> http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2009-December/094658.html
>> > Citation: 1941 Aug. 18, National Defense: Problem of Morale, Time
>> magazine.
>> > Another outfit used another word as response to almost any question:
>> Snasu
>> > ("Situation normal: all screwed up"). For the low state of Army morale
>> was
>> > merely brought into the open by the draft-extension bill.
>> > http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802126,00.html
>> > ---
>> >
>> > As for the 1941 Google Books hit for "snafu," I assume that's the
>> > appearance in the Sept. '41 issue of American Notes and Queries, as
>> given
>> > in OED2.
>> >
>> > --bgz
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Nov 24, 2020 at 5:34 AM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > > Oct. 26 , 1941, Charlotte Observer [NC; AmHistN; "...Army Lingo..."]
>> 48/4
>> > > Snasu: an expression of disgust when things go wrong. Literally
>> "Situation
>> > > normal, all screwed up."
>> > >
>> > > [GB gives snafu also as 1941, but not confirmed.]
>> > >
>> > > Stephen Goranson
>> > >
>> > > ________________________________
>> > > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
>> > > Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>> > > Sent: Monday, November 23, 2020 11:07 AM
>> > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > > Subject: Antedating of "Snafu" by Barry Popik
>> > >
>> > > I cannot overstate the riches that are contained in Barry Popik's
>> > > wonderful website barrypopik.com.  Here is an antedating he has for
>> > > "snafu."  This is a slight antedating in terms of chronology, but I
>> think
>> > > it is worth highlighting because "snafu" is such an important term.
>> > >
>> > > snafu (OED 1941 [Sept.])
>> > >
>> > > 5 June 1941, Daily Times (Chicago, IL), pg. 10, col. 2:
>> > > Army’s all snafu
>> > > Snakes, bugs halt ‘battle march
>> > > By KEITH WHEELER
>> > > (TIMES Staff Correspondent)
>> > > Bell Buckle, Tenn., June 5.—“Everything, said 1st. Lieut. Robert G.
>> > > Anderson, executive officer of company G. 2d battalion, (New York)
>> > > infantry, 27th division “is turning out snafu.”
>> > > (...)
>> > > What,” The Times asked, “does snafu means?”
>> > >
>> > > Fred Shapiro
>> > >
>> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > > The American Dialect Society -
>> > >
>> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.americandialect.org__;!!OToaGQ!-feEW1lf938FnmHL-YGr2C-YgVUo-6Ka9zOlOKET8UlGkInnBpD7aDqL9AQlTDWO$
>> > >
>> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> > >
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>

-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org