FAFO is not necessarily a new phrase, albeit the use of the acronym might be new or more recent to some people.
But who is using it or what is meant by it has taken on new meaning and is now a growing social media trend on outlets like TikTok.
What is FAFO?
The phrase is more commonly known as “(Eff) around, find out.” It’s long been used as a Gen X version of warning “actions have consequences, so choose your’s wisely.”
It more recently has been shortened to the slightly polite acronym FAFO, but with the same unapologetic caution to know what you’re getting into.
The day before last week's presidential election, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner used a somewhat-toned down version of phrase during a press conference to warn against anyone planning to interfere with the city's election process.
"Anybody who thinks it's time to play militia, F around and find out. Anybody who thinks it's time to insult, to deride, to mistreat, to threaten people, F around and find out," said Krasner. "We do have the cuffs, we do have the jail cells, we do have the Philly juries and we have the state prisons. So, if you're going to turn the election into some form of coercion, if you're going to try to bully people, bully votes or voters, if you're going to try to erase votes, if you're going to try any of that nonsense, F around and find out."
The day after the election, former Democratic congressman Bakari Sellers used the acronym on CNN's This Morning show in response to political analyst Ron Brownstein's comments claiming that "a significant number of voters who would say when hearing the most extreme things Trump is talking about, we got through the first term and none of these things happened."
"But we have a colloquialism. It’s it’s FAFO." Sellers responded, adding "And you’re going to find out in the first six months of what that chaos was. You know, for us on TV, it was like drinking out of a firehose. It was, it was foreign policy via tweet, right? It was what is the news story of the day? They had so many different press secretaries and so many different secretary and cabinet secretaries, and they were just running through and churning through. And we forgot what that chaos was."
In the run-up to the election, supporters on both sides shared FAFO sentiments about voting choices. In the wake of Donald Trump’s overwhelming victory, the acronym and phrase has been trending and growing in use on social media as a stark warning against the President-elect’s policies and initiatives.
