Fuck Around and Find Out / FAFO

About

Fuck Around and Find Out, abbreviated as FAFO, is a slang catchphrase warning that taking negative steps will result in unwanted consequences. In 2020, the phrase has become associated with online leftist circles as a warning to liberals that ignoring progressive movements and candidates could lead to unwanted consequences such as a Trump reelection.

Origin

While the origin of the phrase is unclear, it appears to have first been associated with parodies of the Gadsden Flag featuring a crocodile saying "fuck around and find out" as an antonym to the Gadsden snake saying "don't tread on me" (shown below, left).^[1] On September 13th, 2019, Redditor pm_me_your_foodzzz posted a parody Gadsden Flag with the same phrase to /r/nosteponsnek.^[2]

Spread

In 2020, the phrase saw increasing use among online leftists with regards to less-progressive democrats, particularly with regards to fears that running a centrist democratic candidate would yield another general election loss. On February 9th, Redditor jenkybluestuff^[3] posted an image macro of Bernie Sanders saying the phrase to /r/BirdieSanders,^[3] gaining over 140 upvotes (shown below, left). On February 16th, Twitter user @RobinSkyLeigh^[4] posted an object labeling meme with the phrase mocking Democrats for toying with the idea of nominating Michael Bloomberg for President, gaining over 30 retweets and 100 likes (shown below, right).

In November of 2020, the phrase became a rallying cry among leftists in Philadelphia, as some Republicans expressed desire to protest there after it appeared the city's votes would help Joe Biden win the state of Pennsylvania in the 2020 Election. These were often expressed with Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers mascot who has become a mascot for left-wing ideas in the city. User @kidblue^[5] called Gritty the "Future secretary of Fuck Around and Find Out," gaining over 300 retweets and 1,100 likes (shown below, left). User @melaniemoore^[6] made a similar joke with Gritty, gaining over 40 retweets and 200 likes (shown below, right).

Roger Skaer's "Fuck Around and Find Out" Chart

On September 27th, 2022, TikToker^[7] @rogerskaer posted a comedy video where he shows off a chart demonstrating how much someone has to fuck around to find out what they want to find out, saying, "the more you fuck around, the more you're gonna find out," garnering over 3.9 million views in two days (shown below).

The video gained viral spread over the following days. On September 28th, it was reported to Twitter^[8] captioned, "this is my favorite clip on the internet," garnering at least 160,000 likes before it was limited by the user. On the same day, Twitter^[9] user @maiyajambalaya reposted the video, captioned, "there are tears in my eyes LMFAOOOOOOOOOO," garnering over 349,000 likes and 79,000 retweets in a day. On September 29th, Dexerto^[10] published an article on the virality of the video.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References