more snafu

[Donald Markstein]

> I'd recommend staying away from using the
> expressions "snafu" and "fubar".  Perhaps
> they were originally totally clean ex-
> pressions.  But now, they've changed.  In
> everyday usage, the "f" has been replaced
> by a much stronger word than "fouled".

No, that's backward. It was first used by U.S. soldiers during World War II,
who quite naturally used the "much stronger" word, but was later toned down
for delicate-eared civilians (who knew very well what "fouled" was a
euphemism for). And yet, in the 1950s, with its original use still a fairly
recent memory, the company now known as Marvel Comics used it as the title
of a children's comic book.

Yes, we now hear it more often with its original meaning -- but it's still
considered okay for children, because we can at least pretend they think of
it as "fouled", and don't just naturally insert the word they learned on the
playground at pre-school.

(By the way, to get back on topic, a couple of years ago I needed a
character to have a really silly name, because he'd just chuckled over the
"weird" named people have in Duckburg. I originally gave his name as "Pharbu
Phangmeeb", but changed the first name to "Phalbu" at the scripting stage,
because I noticed the resemblance to "fubar" and didn't want to take a
chance on getting an indirect reference to even a mild vulgarism into a
Disney story.)

Quack, Don

Today in Toons: Every day's an anniversary. What's today?
http://www.toonopedia.com/today.htm