SNAFU

snafu English Alternative forms en snafu Etymology The term was born during the Second World War as an acronym of the initials of the words en situation normal, all fucked up, which summed up the chaos and confusion of the war from an individual soldier’s point of view. Pronunciation snă'fo͞o 'snăfo͞o UK, en /snæˈfuː/ /ˈsnæfuː/ en En-uk-snafu.ogg UK snă'fo͞o 'snăfo͞o US, en /snæˈfu/ /ˈsnæfu/ en en-us-SNAFU.ogg US en uː ɑːfuː 2 Phrase phr en military slang euphemism en situation normal, all fucked up//situation normal, all fouled up. Noun A confused, muddled, or messed-up condition or state; a ridiculously chaotic situation; confusion or chaos regarded as the normal state. A major glitch or breakdown; a mistake or blunder. 2007, Susan Glairon, Paperwork SNAFU, The Daily Times-Call, LongmontFYI Because of a paperwork snafu, he also hasn’t been able to get his Army discharge papers and is still listed as an active-duty soldier… Translations confused, muddled, or messed-up condition or state; ridiculously chaotic situation Bulgarian: bg бъркотия f, bg хаос m Finnish: fi hässäkkä French: fr bordel m, fr merdier m German: de tanzendes Chaos n, de Chaos n Hungarian: hu zűrzavar, hu káosz, hu rumli, hu összevisszaság Italian: it puttanaio m, it troiaio m, it puttanaio m, it bordello m whore-house, whoreish vulgar, it casino m, it macello m slaughterhouse, it ginepraio m juniper meadow lofty, it ambarabà m, it ambaradam m, it merdaio m shit-dom vulgar Polish: pl bałagan m, pl burdel m, pl rozpierducha f, pl sajgon m, pl bajer m Russian: ru пу́таница f, ru неразбери́ха f, ru барда́к m, ru ералаш m Spanish: es confusión, es caos m major glitch or breakdown Finnish: fi sotku German: de Patzer m colloquial Hungarian: hu zűr, hu gebasz colloquial or slang Polish: pl potknięcie n, pl wpadka f, pl obsuwa f, pl wtopa f Russian: ru ошибка f, ru ляп m, ru косяк m slang Related terms en FUBAR See also Article on a military training cartoon character: Private Snafu, by Frank Capra in 1942. The stories were written by Theodor Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss). Anagrams en afnsu Fusan fauns saunf