The acronym “FAFO” has been showing up a lot on social media, especially TikTok, in the past few weeks. While it might not be a term you’re familiar with right away, it stands for a phrase that you’ve probably heard before.
New slang appears all the time, usually from texting shortcuts, hashtags, or just shorter versions of words to make things easier. Sometimes the way slang changes from its original form doesn’t make much sense (like GYAT or bumboclot).
However, FAFO has been used for years by different groups of people. It stands for a phrase you’ve definitely heard before and might even use if a certain swear word is part of your usual vocabulary.
Recently, FAFO has gained more attention for specific political reasons. But this isn’t the first time it’s been used in a political context or by a certain group. So, what does FAFO mean? And what does it stand for? Keep reading to find out.
What Does ‘FAFO’ Mean?
This slang stands for a common phrase used when someone faces the consequences of their actions—“F–k around and find out” or simply “F–k around, find out.”
The internet dictionary, Urban Dictionary, has several definitions that mostly agree on what FAFO means. One popular post from 2017 says it’s “biker terminology,” which makes sense. But we’ll talk more about the word’s history and how it’s been used in a bit.
In short, FAFO means actions have consequences. It’s similar to phrases like “If you mess with the bull, you get the horns” or “Stir a hornet’s nest and get stung.” Basically, if you cause trouble, you’ll end up facing a bad outcome that’s coming your way.
Is FAFO Political?
So why have you seen FAFO more often recently? The 2024 Presidential Election is the reason. As Yahoo reported, there were two major uses of FAFO (or a form of it) in the news cycle before and after the election on Nov. 5.
The first was Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who used a censored version of FAFO in a press conference when talking about anyone who planned to interfere with Philadelphia’s election process.
The second came after the election when Donald Trump won. Former Democratic congressman Bakari Sellers used FAFO on CNN’s This Morning Show. Sellers used FAFO in response to political analyst Ron Brownstein’s comments, where Brownstein suggested that voters might think “the most extreme things Trump is talking about” weren’t a concern because “we got through the first term and none of these things happened.”
TikTok Inc. building in the Culver City“But we have a colloquialism. It’s it’s FAFO.” Sellers said. “And you’re going to find out in the first six months of what that chaos was…”
Before the 2024 election, however, FAFO was used as a slogan by the Proud Boys, who even put the term on hats and shirts, according to Reuters. Back in 2022, when FAFO was named word of the year, The Washington Post reported that the slang term became more popular toward the end of that year when Elon Musk tweeted those four letters in response to Kanye West being kicked off Twitter (now known as X) for posting a bad photo of Musk.
The report mentioned that FAFO had been used in memes since 2020 by both sides of the political aisle.
Why Is FAFO All Over TikTok?
Despite “F–k around and find out” and FAFO being around for longer than just this year, the term has gained more popularity on TikTok after the election.
Some people are using FAFO to express their opinions about voters being uninformed, like a video showing a news broadcast where voters didn’t realize Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act were the same thing.
Other videos use FAFO to discuss how Trump’s presidency could affect imports, tariffs, and more, with the belief that it will negatively affect those who voted for him too. And others are using FAFO as a response to people who aren’t talking to their family members anymore after this election.
However, the recent wave of FAFO posts on TikTok is just the latest. Some posts have been around for years and cover all kinds of topics, not just political ones.