WGAF [was "phat/phatt"]

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

> ------------------- Information from the mail header -------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at EARTHLINK.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Phat [was Re: gay/ghey/ghay]
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> FWIW, when I was in the Army, stationed at Andrews Barracks
> in what was
> then West Berlin in the early 'Sixties, we enlisted men formed a
> pseudo-fraternity called WGAF, pronounced "wegaf." The letters stood
> for "We Give A Fuck," with the negative connotation. But those in
> authority were told that this stood for "We Guard America's Freedom."
> Hence, when a sergeant said, e.g. "I want five warm bodies for latrine
> duty," we would chorus, "Wegaf, sergeant!", making it appear that we
> were so gung-ho (often hypercorrected to "gun-ho") that we were eager
> to do a job that "took the meat."


Wilson Gray's comment (thank you) reminds me of an anecdote involving
the rather sly use of "WGASA" (which is pronounced as "wagasa").  See
David Mikkelson's analysis of the San Diego Zoo's adoption of this
acronym,

<http://www.snopes.com/business/names/wgasa.asp>

-- Bonnie Taylor-Blake