Slang dictionary Charlie Foxtrot [chahr-lee foks-trot] August 20, 2018 What does Charlie Foxtrot mean? Ten-hut, soldier! We drop boots at 0-800 and it is a Charlie Foxtrot down there. Charlie Foxtrot is military slang for a chaotic situation—that is, a clusterfuck. Related words Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, tactical shit, Roger that, brothers in arms, Kilroy was here, MAC-10, yut, 10-4, fugazi, BTFO Where does Charlie Foxtrot come from? Funny The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) created a phonetic alphabet in the 1950s that became adopted by military and civilian radio communication. The alphabet uses words in place of letters to minimize various forms of miscommunication. In the NATO phonetic alphabet, Charlie is used for the letter C and Foxtrot, the letter F. That makes the compound clusterfuck a Charlie Foxtrot. Charlie Foxtrot begins as a euphemism in 196os US military slang for a poorly-managed operation during the Vietnam War. imgflip Charlie Foxtrot, along with other sweary military slang like SNAFU, crossed over into the civilian sector thanks to veterans returning home from duty and popular entertainment depictions of the military. Author Tom Clancy used Charlie Foxtrot as early as 1989 in his novel Clear and Present Danger, later adapted into a hit 1994 film. Charlie Foxtrot became so associated with military slang that it has supplied titles of books on everything from the Cold War to the Gulf War to veteran affairs. Military-themed films and TV shows have also used the name. In the 2010s, modern military video games such as Ghost Recon or the extremely popular Call of Duty series have included plenty of military slang like Charlie Foxtrot for authenticity and texture. ARMA 2 (2009) and Ghost Recon Wildlands (2017) have gone so far as to name levels Charlie Foxtrot. Examples of Charlie Foxtrot Charlie Foxtrot: Veteran suicide is a growing military crisis Rolly Hoyt, KTHV, November, 2016 So, uh, just saying, but it looks like Tebow's book signing tomorrow in Gainesville is ALREADY a Charlie Foxtrot. @AndyHutchins, June, 2011 Funny It was bad, no idea who authorized the attack, but it was an utter Charlie Foxtrot. Intel had told us the area was clear and our target was two klicks ahead, so we moved out. Call of Duty: Black Ops III (video game), November 2015 SEE MORE EXAMPLES Who uses Charlie Foxtrot? Charlie Foxtrot sees everyday use by military personnel, veterans, and their social groups. It turns out the false alarm about an active shooter at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base was even more of a Charlie Foxtrot than originally reported https://t.co/AjV9GayW03 — Task & Purpose (@TaskandPurpose) August 16, 2018 Thanks to popular and social media, Charlie Foxtrot further spread in mainstream discussions of all things clusterfuck-y. Try Charlie Foxtrot if you want to describe chaos with a military flair but without being too vulgar. Shaking my head at the massive Charlie Foxtrot that is electronic payment processing. Knowing how sausages are made is far less unsettling. — Eric Meyer (@meyerweb) August 20, 2007 Today has been a Charlie Foxtrot. Someone send me positive or funny things so I can unwind. 😑 — Azalyn @ The Final Countdown (@RedLion004) August 14, 2018 Just Added Black Music Appreciation Month, Older Americans Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Note This is not meant to be a formal definition of Charlie Foxtrot like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of Charlie Foxtrot that will help our users expand their word mastery.