List of military slang terms
Military slang is a colloquial language used by and associated with members of various military forces. This page lists slang words or phrases that originate with military forces, are used exclusively by military personnel or are strongly associated with military organizations. Acronym slang. A number of military slang terms are acronyms. These include "SNAFU", "SUSFU", "FUBAR", and similar terms used by various branches of the United States military during World War II. BOHICA. BOHICA stands for "Bend Over, Here It Comes Again". The meaning is that something undesirable is going to happen again and that  there's not much else one can do other than just endure it. The "Log", the humour magazine written by and for Midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy, featured a series of comics entitled "The Bohica Brothers", dating back to the early 1970s. FUBAR. "FUBAR" ("Fucked/Fouled Up Beyond All Repair/Recognition"), like SNAFU and SUSFU, dates from World War II. The "Oxford English Dictionary" lists "Yank, the Army Weekly magazine" (1944, 7 Jan. p. 8) as its earliest citation: "The FUBAR squadron. ‥ FUBAR? It means 'Fucked/Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition." Another version of FUBAR, said to have  originated in the military, gives its meaning as "Fucked Up By Assholes in the Rear". This version has at least surface validity in that it is a common belief among enlisted men and women that most problems are created by the military brass (officers, especially those bearing the rank of general, from one to four stars). This version is also most likely to have had its origin in the U.S. Army, where the senior officers command from the rear, as opposed to a navy, where it is not uncommon for admirals to command a fleet from one of the ships  at sea, and therefore susceptible to attacks and death by the enemy. Ditto as to air force generals, who do not fly and/or directly command airplanes or even squadrons or air wings. FUBAR had a resurgence in the American lexicon after the term was used in two popular movies: "Tango and Cash" (1989); and "Saving Private Ryan" (1998). This particular FUBAR acronym survived WWII and for a time, mainly in the 1970s, found its way into the lexicon of management consultants. Although the word “rear” is not normally used to describe the vantage point of senior corporate executives, their use  of the term might have come about as the result of their frequent conclusions that the cause of corporate problems (inefficiencies and ineffectiveness causing poor profitability or a negative bottom line) rested not with rank and file workers, but rather with executives, particularly senior executives – the equivalent of senior military officers. FUBU. "FUBU" ("Fucked/Fouled Up Beyond all Understanding") was also used during World War II. SNAFU. "SNAFU" is widely used to stand for the sarcastic expression "Situation Normal: All Fucked Up", as a well-known example of military acronym slang. However, the military acronym originally stood for "Status Nominal : All Fucked Up." It is sometimes bowdlerized to "all fouled up" or similar. It means that the situation is bad, but that this is a normal state of affairs. It is typically used in a joking manner to describe something that is working as intended. The acronym is believed to have originated in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. "Time" magazine used the term in their June 16, 1942 issue: "Last week U.S. citizens knew that gasoline rationing and rubber requisitioning were snafu." Most reference works, including the Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, supply an origin  date of 1940–1944, generally attributing it to the United States Army. Rick Atkinson ascribes the origin of SNAFU, FUBAR, and a bevy of other terms to cynical G.I.s ridiculing the Army's penchant for acronyms. Private Snafu is the title character of a series of military instructional films, most of which were written by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, Philip D. Eastman, and Munro Leaf. In modern usage, "snafu" is sometimes used as an interjection, although it is mostly now used as a noun. "Snafu" also sometimes refers to a bad situation, mistake, or cause of the trouble. It is more  commonly used in modern vernacular to describe running into an error or problem that is large and unexpected. For example, in 2005, "The New York Times" published an article titled "Hospital Staff Cutback Blamed for Test Result Snafu". The attribution of "SNAFU" to the American military is not universally accepted: it has also been attributed to the British, although the Oxford English Dictionary gives its origin and first recorded use as the U.S. military. In 1946, as part of a wider study of military slang, Frederick Elkin noted: "...[there] are a few acceptable substitutes, such as 'screw up' or 'mess  up', but these do not have the emphasis value of the obscene equivalent." He considered the expression "SNAFU" to be: "...a caricature of Army direction. The soldier resignedly accepts his own less responsible position and expresses his cynicism at the inefficiency of Army authority." He also noted that "the expression … is coming into general civilian use." An Imperial FU. "An Imperial FU" ("An Imperial Fuck Up") was used during World War I by soldiers of the outlying British Empire, e.g. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Kenya, Tanganyika, India, in reference to odd/conflicting orders from British  authorities. Note that during World War I, the British Empire had an "Imperial War Cabinet", and the troops from Australia were called the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), not to be confused with the AEF, the American Expeditionary Forces of WWI, or the Allied Expeditionary Force of WWII. SUSFU. "SUSFU" ("Situation Unchanged: Still Fucked Up") is closely related to "SNAFU". "SNAFU" and "SUSFU" were first recorded in "American Notes and Queries" in their September 13, 1941 issue. TARFU. "TARFU" ("Totally And Royally Fucked Up" or "Things Are Really Fucked Up") was also used during World War II. The 1944 U.S. Army  animated shorts "Three Brothers" and "Private Snafu Presents Seaman Tarfu In The Navy" (both directed by Friz Freleng), feature the characters Private Snafu, Private Fubar, and Seaman Tarfu (with a cameo by Bugs Bunny). Tommy and the Poor Bloody Infantry. Tommy Atkins (often just Tommy) is slang for a common soldier in the British Army, but many soldiers preferred the terms PBI (poor bloody infantry) "P.B.I." was a pseudonym of a contributor to the First World War trench magazine "The Wipers Times". Further reading. BOHICA by Scott Barnes published 1987