Bernie Sanders with glowing red eyes and arms spread wide at a Manchester NH rally with 'Fuck Around and Find Out' news chyron

Fuck Around and Find Out

2019catchphraseclassic

Published October 25, 2026

Fuck Around and Find Out, often shortened to FAFO, is a catchphrase warning that reckless behavior invites predictable consequences. The phrase first attached to parody Gadsden flags showing a snapping crocodile around 2019, then gained political usage during the 2020 election cycle. In 2022, TikToker Roger Skaer took it mainstream with a straight-faced whiteboard chart video that drew millions of views across TikTok and Twitter.

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Overview

At its core, FAFO works as both a threat and a smug observation. Posts usually caption footage or photos of someone making a stupid decision, with the acronym delivered as the kicker after the mistake plays out3. Flag merchandise and object-labeling edits map the ratio of recklessness to consequence, letting the implied punishment do the work.

The 2019 crocodile Gadsden parody set an early visual template, replacing Benjamin Franklin's coiled rattlesnake with a snapping gator that promises retaliation instead of neutrality2. By the early 2020s, left-leaning posters used the line to argue that complacent liberals would learn the hard way, while right-wing accounts turned it against perceived progressive overreach3. Roger Skaer's 2022 'find out chart' took the warning into pure absurdist comedy, treating cause and effect as a math lesson on a whiteboard1.

Origin & Background

Platform
Novelty merchandise / Reddit (early codification)
Date
2019

The exact origin of the phrase isn't documented, but its visual identity took shape on parody Gadsden Flag merchandise showing a crocodile with 'fuck around and find out' positioned as a counter to the historic 'don't tread on me' slogan3. On September 13, 2019, Reddit user pm_me_your_foodzzz posted a version of this parody flag to the subreddit /r/nosteponsnek, giving the design circulation outside of print-on-demand listings2.

How It Spread

Through early 2020, FAFO moved into online leftist spaces as a warning against complacency inside the Democratic primary. On February 9, 2020, Reddit user jenkybluestuff posted an image macro of Bernie Sanders delivering the line to /r/BirdieSanders, where it collected over 140 upvotes4. A week later, Twitter user @RobinSkyLeigh posted an object-labeling meme mocking Democrats for flirting with a Michael Bloomberg nomination, picking up around 30 retweets and 100 likes5.

That November, after Joe Biden's Pennsylvania win leaned partly on Philadelphia's vote count, the phrase attached itself to Gritty, the Flyers mascot adopted by the city's left-wing posters. On November 6, 2020, Twitter user @kidblue called Gritty the 'Future secretary of Fuck Around and Find Out,' earning over 300 retweets and 1,100 likes6.

The biggest mainstream moment arrived on September 27, 2022, when 51-year-old TikToker Roger Skaer posted a deadpan whiteboard clip plotting how much a person needs to fuck around to find out7. The video drew more than 3.9 million TikTok views within two days, and a Twitter repost by @maiyajambalaya added another 349,000 likes and 79,000 retweets8. Dexerto covered the viral spread on September 29, 2022, calling the clip both cautionary and motivational1.

Timeline

2019-09-13

Reddit user pm_me_your_foodzzz posts a parody Gadsden Flag with a crocodile saying 'fuck around and find out' to /r/nosteponsnek.

2020-02-09

Reddit user jenkybluestuff shares a Bernie Sanders FAFO image macro to /r/BirdieSanders.

2020-02-16

Twitter user @RobinSkyLeigh posts an object-labeling meme using the phrase against a potential Michael Bloomberg nomination.

2020-11-06

Twitter user @kidblue dubs Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty the 'Future secretary of Fuck Around and Find Out.'

2022-09-27

TikToker Roger Skaer posts his viral whiteboard 'find out chart' video.

2022-09-29

Dexerto publishes a story on the Roger Skaer chart video's viral spread.

How to Use This Meme

A typical FAFO post captions a photo or clip of someone making a bad decision with the full phrase or the acronym. Charts and object-labeling edits often graph recklessness against consequence as a joke, while political posts drop the line as a reply or kicker instead of a setup. The implied punishment carries the humor, so the text almost never needs explanation.

Frequently Asked Questions