FUBAR is an acronym that commonly means "fucked up beyond all repair", or one of many variations (see below). It is attested in the United States Army and other military settings.

Variations

For purposes of euphemism, "fucked" is sometimes replaced with "fouled".

Depending on situation or habit, "all recognition" can be replaced with "any repair", "any redemption", "all reality", "all repair", or "all recovery". Once the concept is understood, the specific words are irrelevant.

Etymology

Electronics engineers say that SNAFU and FUBAR were used before World War II by repairmen sent out to repair phone booths. They had to report the situation at arrival to the scene, often on a very bad line, so they developed these acronyms to make themselves understood.^{citation needed]}

Computer engineers (esp. those working in the early era of computing) also claimed that FUBAR was an acronym for Failed Unibus Address Register.^{citation needed]}.

"Foo" appeared in a 1938 Warner Bros. Daffy Duck cartoon and the comic strip Smokey Stover, and bar was a popular English word long before that. FUBAR may have been influenced by the German word furchtbar, meaning terrible. It is pronounced with a soft cht, and probably made the transition during World War II.^[1]

It is also possible that foobar is a phonological interpretation of the first letters of the Runic alphabet. Like Qwerty and Abcde, this expression might have attracted various computer programmers. In a museum at Aarhus, there is a large wooden bar with the runic inscription f u þ a r, where fu is pronounced like foo. However, the letter þ is actually pronounced like an unvoiced th, not a b (hence the name Futhark for the Runic alphabet).^{citation needed]} ....

Related usage

One of the most popular hacker/demo groups on the Commodore 64 scene in the mid 1980s was FBR – "Fucked Beyond Repair".

Podshow has FUBAR Fridays. At 5 o'clock, all the workers stop what they are doing, hang up all the phones, and have an end of the week party.

In the 1980's, Scottish ski-schools routinely classified pupils in one of two categories: FDB (First Day Beginner); FBR (Fucked Beyond Repair)

There is a tool made by Stanley tools named the FUBAR. It is a wrecking bar with a wrench and hammer as well.

Literature

• F.U.B.A.R.: America's Right-Wing Nightmare (2006) is a book by Sam Seder and Stephen Sherrill.
• "The Fubar Suit" (1997) is the title of a science fiction short story by Stephen Baxter.

Film and television

• In the 1944 U.S. Army animated short The Three Brothers (directed by Friz Freleng), a character named Fubar is a brother of Private Snafu and Tarfu.
• The term was used in the movie Tango and Cash (1989).
• In Saving Private Ryan (1998) the term is used by the soldiers in Captain Miller's squad. Corporal Upham, their interpreter, is unfamiliar with it and the others jokingly tell him it's German. He is later shown looking in his German dictionary and remarking: "Hey, I looked up FUBAR in the German dictionary and there's no FUBAR in there."
• FUBAR: The Movie is also the title of a 2002 Canadian mockumentary.
• In the Dark Angel television series, Joshua the dog frequently used it to describe complicated situations.

Real-world usage

• There is a nightclub in Stirling, Scotland called "The Fubar".
• Oxford Brookes University (UK) 's Wednesday night party is called FUBAR
• A bar/ dance club in Waterloo, Canada is called FUBAR. Located at the University Plaza between University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University.
• Chester University, Warrington Campus's (UK) Student Union bar is called the FuBar (Friendly Union Bar)
• Auckland, New Zealand has a nightclub called "FuBar" located on Queen Street.

Computer games

• Gears of War by Epic Games (2006), Quote by Baird during Act 2 while the main character is on route to the Junker. Baird quotes that the situation is FUBAR whilst he and Cole defend the Stranded Village. "The situation is FUBAR" is also quoted by Fenix whilst Jack (the robot) is opening a door. This is during a communication with HQ over the com-link during Act 1.
• Outcast by Infogrames (1999), quote by lead character Cutter Slade: "I think this places this mission just south of FUBAR!"
• "Half-Life: Opposing Force" by Gearbox Software and Valve Corporation (1999), quote from fellow Marines: "This mission is way beyond FUBAR!"
• Quake 4 by Raven Software (2005), quote by Lt. Voss: "This situation is looking seriously FUBAR-ED!"
• Halo: Combat Evolved by Bungie Studios (2001), quote by Sergeant Johnson upon death of the player: "We are FUBAR!", or by marines upon death of the player: "We are so totally FUBAR!".
• Stronghold by Firefly Studios (1999), Clicking on a drunk man from an inn a number of times will say his occupation is "FUBAR!".
• Freedom Fighters by IO Interactive (2003), After his boat is partially sunk by Russian Mi-24s on the final assault on Governor's Island, a resistance soldier comments to the player, "This whole operation is FUBAR, may as well pack it up and go home!"
• Full Spectrum Warrior by Pandemic, has a quote by a Jewish Philadelphian 'smart-ass' squad member; "If we ain't careful, the whole mission will be FUBAR."
• World of Warcraft (FuBar) mod used to add top and bottom interface bars to the UI, similar to Titan Panel
• Star Wars Galaxies by SOE was the home of the Fubar Guild (Ahazi Server).
• Manhunt by Rockstar Games (2003), Quote by one of the Cerebus guards if they see another Cerebus dead, "Ah, fuck, he's FUBAR." They also use the military arcronym SNAFU.
• Destroy All Humans! by Pandemic Studios, if you read a soldier's mind they will sometimes use the term FUBAR.
• Foobar vs the D.E.A. - Mac Game (1995)

Related acronyms

There are a number of slang army acronyms that are related to FUBAR. A somewhat standard group in no particular order is:

1. SNAFU - Situation Normal: All Fucked Up
2. FUBAR - Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition
3. BOHICA - Bend Over, Here It Comes Again
4. TARFU - Things Are Really Fucked Up
5. JANFU - Joint Army/Navy Fuck-Up

Others include the following:^{citation needed]}

• SAPFU - Surpasses All Previous Fuck Ups
• CHAOS - Cheif Has Arrived On Scene
• SUSFU - Situation Unchanged, Still Fucked Up
• FUMTU - Fucked Up More Than Usual
• FUBB - Fucked Up Beyond Belief
• TOFU - Things Ordinary: Fucked Up
• GFU - General Fuck Up
• SAMFU - Self Adjusting Military Fuck Up
• TUIFU - The Ultimate In Fuck Ups
• FUGAZI - Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In; Refers to out-of-control situation such as a chaotic jungle warfare combat environment
• FUNDY - Fucked Up, Not Dead Yet; on British medical charts^[2]
• JAAFU or JAAFFU - Joint Army-Air Force Fuck-Up; the use of JANFU combined with a radical increase in joint-forces operations since 1989, has led to the rare but increasing use of JAAFU/JAAFFU
• FUBER - Fucked Up Beyond Economic Repair
• MOAFU - Mother Of All Fuck Ups
• BEIFT - Behold, Every Indicator Forebodes Trouble; pronounced "beefed"