FUBAR

Not to be confused with foobar.

For other uses, see FUBAR (disambiguation).

FUBAR is an acronym that commonly means "fucked up beyond all recognition/any repair/all reason", or in the Army, "fucked up by army regulations"^{[citation needed]}

Etymology and history

The Oxford English Dictionary lists Yank, the Army Weekly magazine (1944, 7 Jan. p. 8) as its earliest citation: FUBAR? It means 'Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition'"

In computing and technology

• 1980, FUBAR appears in an apparent example of geek humor, as the acronym for the Failed UniBus Address Register in the Digital Equipment Corporation VAX-11/780 Unibus adapter (DW780).
• In computer science, the variable names FOO and BAR are frequently encountered. The origin of their names might be traced to FUBAR.

In media and popular culture

• 1944, in the U.S. Army animated shorts Three Brothers (1944) and Private Snafu Presents Seaman Tarfu In The Navy (both directed by Friz Freleng), characters are featured such as Fubar, a brother of Private Snafu (Situation Normal, All Fucked Up), and Seaman Tarfu (Things Are Really Fucked Up or Totally and Royally Fucked Up).
• 1989, in the film Tango & Cash, Kurt Russell's character, Gabriel Cash, uses the phrase several times.
• 1998, in the film Saving Private Ryan, FUBAR is a term used many times by members of Captain John Miller's squad to describe the mission given to them by high command. The squad also tricks a gullible translator into believing that it is actually a German term.
• 1999, in Half-Life: Opposing Force, misc. allied marines will sometimes say, "This mission is way beyond FUBAR!" when interacted with or at random.
• 2002, FUBAR (film): a mockumentary by Michael Dowse.
• 2007, in ARMA: Armed Assault, the main character uses FUBAR during the first few intros of the game.
• 2008, in Left 4 Dead, Bill will use FUBAR if he has taken significant damage and is bleeding out.
• 2011, in Operation Flashpoint: Red River, FUBAR is often used as a distress signal in combat.
• F.U.B.A.R.: America's Right-Wing Nightmare, a book by Sam Seder.
• 2011, in Above The Law, by rap duo Royce Da 5'9 and Eminem (Bad Meets Evil), Royce raps "Leave you FUBAR, Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition"
• 2011, in film The Deep Blue Sea, starring Tom Hiddleston and Rachel Weisz, Hiddleston's character, Freddie Page, shouts at Hester (Weisz) "F.U.B.A.R. Acronym. Fucked up beyond all recognition" in the middle of a gallery.

See also

• BOHICA
• List of government and military acronyms
• SNAFU (aka SUSFU)

External links

• Acronym Finder's FUBAR entry
• Glossary of Military Terms & Slang from the Vietnam War
• World Wide Words, Quinion, Michael , Acronyms for your Enjoyment.