[Ads-l] Antedating of "FUBAR"

Mon Aug 26 05:34:36 UTC 2024

The phrase "fuck it and drive on" is used as a catch phrase in the
1982 novel "The 13th Valley" which is set in Vietnam. The phrase
appeared in three locations in the book. However, the acronym "FIDO"
did not appear in the book.

Date: 1982 Copyright (Hardcover 1982)(Paperback 1983)
Book: The 13th Valley: A Novel
Author: John M. Del Vecchio
Quote Page 23, 262, and 360
Publisher: Bantam Books, New York
Database: Internet Archive

Quote Page 23
[Begin excerpt]
He became the machine, hard and invulnerable. "Don't mean nothin," he
had learned to say. "Just say, 'Fuck it,' and drive on."
[End excerpt]

Quote Page 262
[Begin excerpt]
It won't mean a thing. How does Egan always say it? 'Don't mean
nothin. Just say fuck it and drive on.' Yeah, it don't mean nothin.
[End excerpt]

Quote Page 360
[Begin excerpt]
"Come on," Silvers said grasping Cherry hard by the arm. "Get dressed.
Just say fuck it and drive on. Don't mean nothin. Where's my soap?"
[End excerpt]

“FIDO” appears in a 1985 book set after the Third World War.

Year: 1985
Book: The Guardians: Trial by Fire
Author: Richard Austin
Quote Page 123
Publisher: Jove Books, New York
Database: Internet Archive

[Begin excerpt]
"FIDO," McKay said quietly. "Fuck It and Drive On."
Sloan glanced at him sharply. "You sure of that, McKay?"
[End excerpt]

Jesse may already have these citations.
Garson

On Sat, Aug 24, 2024 at 10:26 PM Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
>
> I'm afraid that I missed this, from previous and the latest edition (currently on press, so I can't make further changes). A few weeks ago list member Bill Mullins _also_ encountered this expression in the new Stephen King collection, and emailed me about it; the earliest example I know of is from 1983 in Connie Eble's collections, which Jon Lighter cites in HDAS volume I. There's regular evidence thereafter, so it really is unfortunate that I didn't get it in.
>
> I _do_ have Bonnie's "PVT. ROGER FUBAR" example, as the earliest evidence for _fubar_ though!
>
> Jesse Sheidlower
>
> On Sat, Aug 24, 2024 at 09:21:49PM -0400, Laurence Horn wrote:
> > This exchange reminds me of a question I had a few days ago that I hadn’t gotten around to asking.  I was hoping to locate my copy of Jesse’s _The F-Word_ before posting, but it seems to have gone into hiding when I changed offices last week. In “The Dreamers”, one of the stories in Stephen King’s recently published collection, _You Like It Darker_, the narrator is a Vietnam vet who frequent invokes the attitude expressed in the acronym FIDO, explained as an acronym for “Fuck It, Drive On”. This can allude to the decision to ignore something awful you see along the way, or it can apply more generally, as in the story in question or in this X/Twitter post
> >
> > https://x.com/KingBeauregard/status/1806928653827112984
> >
> > The evidence on the web, e.g. at https://www.allacronyms.com/FIDO/Fuck_It-Drive_On, indicates its origin (like so many other acronyms) is from the military, but it’s not clear to me that it’s “old” in the sense of predating the Vietnam War (which doesn’t seem all that long ago to me).  Anyone have more info?
> >
> > LH
> >
> >
> >
> > > On Aug 24, 2024, at 8:49 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU> wrote:
> > >
> > > Very nice find, Bonnie.
> > >
> > > Fred
> > >
> > > ________________________________
> > > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Bonnie Taylor-Blake <b.taylorblake at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2024 4:37 PM
> > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Subject: Re: Antedating of "FUBAR"
> > >
> > > FWIW, the pseudonymous "PVT. ROGER FUBAR" authored a letter to the
> > > editor that was published in The Greensboro (NC) Daily News on 20
> > > September 1942 (p. 2). "Private Fubar" claimed to have been writing
> > > from the U.S. Army's Camp Davis (Holly Ridge), North Carolina.
> > >
> > > https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A11EA68DA9EC1533C%40GB3NEWS-14342C4F04D625DE%402430623-1429AACA06587E82%4038-1429AACA06587E82?clipid=vagzaobhajkiiwpkvfvtbfczqqdikjlx_ip-10-166-46-121_1724265678637<https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A11EA68DA9EC1533C%40GB3NEWS-14342C4F04D625DE%402430623-1429AACA06587E82%4038-1429AACA06587E82?clipid=vagzaobhajkiiwpkvfvtbfczqqdikjlx_ip-10-166-46-121_1724265678637>
> > >
> > > -- Bonnie
> > >
> > > On Wed, Mar 22, 2023 at 1:29 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> FUBAR (OED 1944)
> > >>
> > >> 1943 Buffalo Evening News 9 Aug. 1 / 4 (Newspapers.com)  All sentinels are required to memorize 11 general orders, listed in the Soldiers' Handbook. After each order I will list the FUBAR (framed up beyond all recognition) version.
> > >>
> > >> Fred Shapiro
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
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> > >
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> >
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>
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