The difference between a snafu, a shitshow, and a clusterfuck

[ZiprHead]

https://qz.com/work/1225213/the-difference-between-a-snafu-a-shitshow-and-a-clusterfuck/

Let’s say the situation at work is not good. The project (or product, or re-org, or whatever) has launched, and the best you can say is that things aren’t going as planned. At all. It’s a disaster, though the best word for it is the one you drop over drinks with your team and when venting at home: it’s a clusterfuck.

Clusterfucks hold a special place in public life, one distinct from the complications, crises, and catastrophes that mar our personal and professional existences. The F-Word, former Oxford English Dictionary editor Jesse Sheidlower’s comprehensive history of the term, defines a clusterfuck as “a bungled or confused undertaking or situation.” Stanford business professor Bob Sutton goes further, describing clusterfucks as “those debacles and disasters caused by a deadly brew of illusion, impatience, and incompetence that afflicts too many decision-makers, especially those in powerful, confident, and prestigious groups.”

A fuck-up. “A fuck-up is just something all of us do every day,” Sutton says. “I broke the egg I made for breakfast this morning. That was kind of a fuck-up.” Whereas clusterfucks are perfectly preventable, fuck-ups are an unavoidable feature of the human condition.

A SNAFU. While sometimes used as a synonym for minor malfunctions and hiccups, this slang military acronym—“Situation Normal, All Fucked Up”—actually refers to the functionally messy state that describes many otherwise healthy companies (and many of our personal lives). A SNAFU work environment is usually manageable; one that is FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Repair, another military legacy) probably isn’t. “When my students with little experience go to work at a famous company and it isn’t quite as they dreamed, I do ask them if it is FUBAR or SNAFU, and tell them SNAFU will describe most places they work,” Sutton said.

A shitshow. No less an authority than the Oxford English Dictionary describes a shitshow as a “situation or state of affairs characterized by chaos, confusion, or incompetence.” A clusterfuck may come to possess all those characteristics, but is more properly identified by the decisions that produced it than its outcome.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Where does dumpster fire fit?

 

[CJW]

we seem to have a lot of Goat Rodeos around here...

And that's not even getting into the relative measures of a crap-ton, a shit-ton and a fuck-ton.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

My company is a shitshow that regularly spins out clusterfucks.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

And how is a clusterfuck different than an orgy?

 

[Patooka]

And how is a clusterfuck different than an orgy?

Orgies require some planning. Clusterfucks occur organically.

 

[Bronzeage]

And how is a clusterfuck different than an orgy?

The metaphor of the clusterfuck is closer to reality than one might imagine. A clusterfuck is a situation where the group's attention and efforts are directed inward and not toward the goal. The result is arguing over the procedures, hierarchy and status, and forming alliances. Some work harder than others and the result is, a lot of energy is expended, but there's nothing to show for it.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

And how is a clusterfuck different than an orgy?

The metaphor of the clusterfuck is closer to reality than one might imagine. A clusterfuck is a situation where the group's attention and efforts are directed inward and not toward the goal. The result is arguing over the procedures, hierarchy and status, and forming alliances. Some work harder than others and the result is, a lot of energy is expended, but there's nothing to show for it.

Didn't you see the grin?

 

[ideologyhunter]

Trump assuming moral leadership during COVID 19.