Rick-

>You've got it right. The way I learned it (although I can't remember where) the R stood for Recognition rather than Repair,

Right you are. Was it from World War II? I vaguely seem to remember it being used in Catch-22 but that might just be wishful thinking.

> but either one conveys the meaning that something is a hopeless mess. BTW the G-rated version is Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition < s >. A corollary acronym is SNAFU, which means Situation Normal, All Fouled Up.

Gee. I thought that was the asterisk was for. You mean I made it up to PG?