FAFO: Unofficial name for Florida DOGE touted by state leaders has separate meaning

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the state’s top financial officer appear to want to send a new message for agencies they believe are wasting taxpayer dollars: “F— Around and Find Out.” Of course, they do not want to put it that way.

Both the governor and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia embraced a new name for the state’s Department of Government Efficiency, known more familiarly as DOGE.

On Monday, Ingoglia posted the state agency, whose name once mirrored the Elon Musk-led effort for the Trump Administration, would be unofficially renamed the Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight, or FAFO. A graphic he shared indicated the Florida CFO introduced the name during a GOP weekend event and got “a rave reception.”

DeSantis also reacted positively. The governor posted that “Florida Agency for Fiscal Oversight has a nice ring to it,” and said he might consider issuing an executive order to change the name.

Just like how DOGE brings to mind Shiba Inus and cryptocurrency for many people online, FAFO has its own separate meaning on the internet (see above). However, that phrase, “F— Around and Find Out,” was itself embraced by a racist, extremist group.

The Anti-Defamation League notes the Proud Boys use the phrase as a slogan “to suggest they are always prepared for a fight, and if a person confronts or messes with them, that person will be sorry.”

“This slogan is commonly seen on Proud Boys’ clothing or is spray painted as a symbol of the group,” ADL’s definition continued. “The phrase may also be used to a lesser degree by others in a different context.”