You don't want your teen to “FAFO.” Or ... maybe you do, so they learn the consequences of their actions.
The acronym slang term means, “F--- around and find out.” It’s how kids (and others) caution each other against doing something bad — or is a big, fat “I told you so,” if you did it anyway.
“It’s really an all-purpose taunt,” Benjamin Morse, a lecturer at the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism & Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, tells TODAY.com in an email. “You can warn somebody not to mess with you or admonish them after the fact.”
According to Urban Dictionary, “FAFO” may have started in the motorcycle gang community — specifically, as one entry notes, in this context: “Are those guys dangerous? FAFO.”
Another entry states that FAFO is a technology term, “Commonly used by software developers in chats when referring to certain programming techniques they do not know or understand but try to make use of anyway.”
Catch up on more teen slang!
A third (and disappointing) explanation, as noted by Merriam-Webster and other news outlets: “FAFO” was adopted as a slogan of the hate group the Proud Boys, and, according to Morse, used as a rallying cry.
To most kids, “FAFO” is how they tell their peers, “I dare you to do it” — whatever “it” means. Merriam-Webster states that “FAFO” is also “an expression of schadenfreude” (a German word for the delight that some feel when others make a mistake or have bad luck).
This is how people use “FAFO” in a sentence:
“Did you see the video of the guy who jumped into the tiger pit at the zoo? FAFO.”
“I’m avoiding that party tonight. I’m not going to FAFO.”
This term has made the leap to the mainstream; there is even a “FAFO parenting” trend.
“It’s the idea that parents adopt a hands-off approach to allow their children to experience dangerous consequences to their actions and learn their lesson,” says Morse. “With the acronym present in situations like this as well as pop culture, I think the reasons why teens use it probably come down to simple exposure.”
Is saying “FAFO” unkind?
“Whether younger people realize it or not,” says Morse, “I do think the statement carries a degree of rudeness and negative connotation.”
