What does FUBAR stand for? The military acronym behind Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Netflix series

Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in a new action-comedy series by Netflix entitled “FUBAR”. The new show’s cryptic title is a military acronym that dates all the way back to World War II, and if some critics are to be believed, it’s an apt description as well for Schwarzenegger’s TV debut.

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The etymology of FUBAR

FUBAR stands for “F—ked Up Beyond All Recognition/Repair”, or for the more wholesome, “Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition/Repair.” The slang term was used to describe a mission or situation that was completely and irreversibly messed up, or an event that turned into total chaos. As it was used in the military, FUBAR would usually refer to missions that ended up with soldiers getting killed.

One theory regarding the origin of the term is that it is a derivation of the German word “furchtbar”, which means terrible, awful, or dreadful.

FUBAR experienced a resurgence in popularity when it was used in the 1989 action comedy film “Tango & Cash”, as well as in the epic war movie “Saving Private Ryan”. In the Tom Hanks starrer, his character and his team often used the term as they searched for Private James Ryan.

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FUBAR in the vernacular

The word has since entered mainstream language and is still used today in informal conversations, its usage varying depending on the context and the people involved. It usually refers to situations where something is perceived as being in a state of disarray.

The term FUBAR will likely become more popular after the launch of Schwarzenegger’s show, although the series has been harshly panned by critics as being a disappointment in the aspects of both action and comedy.