| 释义 |
snafu, phr., a., and n. slang (chiefly U.S., orig. U.S. Mil.).|ˈsnæfuː|
Also SNAFU.
[Acronym f. the initial letters of situation normal: all fouled (or fucked) up.]
A. Used acronymically (often with an explanation) as an expression conveying the common soldier's laconic acceptance of the disorder of war and the ineptitude of his superiors.
1941Amer. N. & Q. Sept. 94/2 Snafu, situation normal. 1943Amer. Mercury Nov. 555/2 Snafu—politely translated as ‘situation normal; all fouled up’, to indicate that things are not going too well. 1946Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. Mar. 419 Interestingly, the expression ‘snafu’, derived from this, ‘Situation normal, all f―ed up’, is coming into general civilian use. 1966Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 4 Dec. 73/4 GI Jargon... Snafu, Situation normal, all fouled up. 1975Listener 13 Mar. 349/1 There was a barrack-room mnemonic which fits the ill-starred Dieppe raid: SNAFU, or Situation Normal, All Fouled Up.
B. adj. Confused, chaotic.
1942Time 15 June 11/1 Last week U.S. citizens knew that gasoline rationing and rubber requisitioning were snafu. 1950‘D. Divine’ King of Fassarai (1951) xxviii. 245 Situation Snafu... Send for the Seabees.
C. n. Now usu. with a and pl. A confusion or mix-up; a hitch, mishap; muddle, confused state.
1943Yank 10 Sept. 9 They worked hard and steadily, with a minimum of snafu. 1945Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 11 Dec. 10/7 Corporations struggling with the problems of reconversion, strikes, shortages and snafu in general. 1956C. W. Mills Power Elite viii. 182 The key to the bureaucratic snafu that has often characterized the navy is that as the ships and the guns and the logistics became more technically complicated, the men who ran them acquired rank less by technical specialty than by seniority. 1958‘Castle’ & ‘Hailey’ Flight into Danger i. 17 It would have to be a big show in Vancouver to justify this snafu. 1963Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 28 Dec. (1970) 23 Pretty soon the German plane rolled in, overshooting the red carpet by a few feet, so there was a slight snafu and they had to hop around to get onto it. 1965Times Lit. Suppl. 25 Nov. 1039/1 He must have seen enough ‘snafus’ to make him sceptical of ‘the Brass’. 1976Guardian 20 Oct. 4/8 As that monumental snafu at Domadedovo attests, Aeroflot's shortcomings are also big ones. 1978W. F. Buckley Stained Glass xxi. 206 Singer then rehearsed Blackford in emergency instructions to be followed in the hideous event of a snafu. 1980B. Mason Solo 117 And Holy Moses, what a snafu! Why foul up poor, harmless, gormless Glad?
Hence as vb. U.S. slang, (a) trans. to mess up, to play havoc with; (b) intr. to go wrong; also ˈsnafued ppl. a.
1943Yank 19 Nov. 9 Then the Army snafued the romance by transferring Kinser to this post. 1944Life 16 Oct. 20/2 It is a symbol of SNAFU.., and a star is rated for each snafued campaign after Guadalcanal. 1953Sun (Baltimore) 1 Sept. (b ed.) 17/2 Eddie had twice this season snafued a batting order and caused men to be called out for swinging out of turn. 1955‘J. Christopher’ Year of Comet i. 15 Of course I didn't bring you up here simply to tell you P & M snafued your psychoplan sixteen years ago. 1975J. Grady Shadow of Condor i. 31 Every now and then something snafus and there is one hell of a mess. 1981G. Markstein Ultimate Issue 38 My arrangements seemed snafued. I guess the lines got crossed. |