get the snafu

[Jonathan Lighter]

Those uses are found almost exclusively in British forms of English.

Neither would fit the 1943 context.

JL


On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 12:03 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: get the snafu
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Is the snafu a misread of strafe? I believe there are uses of 'strafe' that
> don't require airplanes to be involved.
>
> DanG
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 7:36 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu
> >wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: get the snafu
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > On Apr 30, 2014, at 6:46 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> >
> > > Jon,
> > >
> > > The sense seems a little off from the typical, e.g. OED C. n. "A
> > > confusion [etc.]"  Would snipers cause "confusion"?
> > >
> > > Joel
> >
> > It might depend on what part of one's brain their bullets connect with.
> >
> > LH
> >
> > >
> > > At 4/29/2014 06:28 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > >
> > >> A new one on me. And note primitive spelling:
> > >>
> > >> 1943 _Racine Journal-Times_ (Sept. 19) 4: "They probably got the
> snafoo
> > >> from a German patrol," said the driver. "These hills are full of
> > Germans.
> > >> Particularly snipers."
> > >>
> > >> JL
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> > >>
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