FAFO has joined the online lexicon as a response to many situations people find themselves in. For those unfamiliar with the acronym, it stands for "f*ck around, find out."
It's a way of warning someone not to mess with something or someone or something bad will happen—or an "I told you so" after the fact.
A close equivalent would be:
"Play with fire, get burned."
It indicates the person either should have known better or will certainly know better now.
Reddit user I_Love_Cheese_N_Food asked:
"Redditors who f*cked around and found out, what did you find and do you regret it?"
Ducking Painful
"About six years old having a picnic with my dad by the lake. Some ducks wander up near us."
"Dad says, 'You know, ducks will bite you'."
"'That’s silly, they don’t even have teeth'."
"'Stick your finger out and see for yourself'."
"Got bit. Cried."
~ kevinpro7
The Hits Kept Coming
"When I was 14 I had a friend that was a track athlete. This kid was seriously the fastest person I've seen in real life."
"It had been raining for 3 days and we were mostly stuck inside and bored."
"When the rain finally stopped I called him and we met up at the canal in-between our houses. It was our usual meeting spot as it was halfway."
"He had the bright idea that we should cross the canal, that was at max capacity and moving very quickly, by jumping from one concrete footing to the next. Mind you, these were about 10 feet apart, but very wide."
"I was not interested in that. Truth is that I was scared, but didn't want to show it."
"He decided to jump from one to the next. He barely made it and declared how easy it was."
"At this point the foolish pride kicks in and I make a run for it. I was comically short of making it across."
"So short that I hit face first inthethe side of the concrete footing and broke my nose. What's worse is that now I was in rapidly moving flood water with my eyes blurry from breaking my nose."
"This track athlete buddy hopped on his bike and pedaled from that bridge to the next one and beat me there. I was desperately trying to grab onto the shore and pull myself up."
"But it was so wet and muddy that all I did was slow myself down a bit. He climbed down the embankment by the next set of concrete footings and started yelling at me to grab his hand."
"I did and he pulled me out. He absolutely saved my life that day."
"But also my bike, that was left on the other bridge, was stolen by the time we got back to it."
~ Obiwan_ca_blowme
You're Fired
"Talked sh*t on a subReddit about my specific field of work and I stupidly put details in about myself."
"I was subsequently caught in the sub and terminated by my employer."
~ Kirko28
Put Up Or Shut Up
"I used to think I was a tough guy and talked a lot of sh*t about how I could kick my roommate's a** if I wanted to. He politely challenged me to a boxing match."
"I took two hits but didn't get a serious one in. I went down."
"In retrospect he was way cooler about it than he should have been. I was talking a lot of sh*t and he brought out boxing gloves and even some foam helmet things."
"I went down like a sack of potatoes."
"I firmly believe that every sh*t talker needs a good a** kicking once in a while because that sh*t humbled me and I'm a better man for it."
"If you're out there Isaac, it's Jibs and I'm still sorry for talking sh*t."
~ bigdreams_littled
Safety First
"When you do not wrap your tool, you are in fact a fool."
~ ewgrossdayhikes
"I always find 'no condom' guys fascinating. What a potentially expensive or deadly hobby."
~ BakedBrie26
That 1st Step Was A Doozy
"On a construction site I didn't want to be a baby and take the stairs down the 3 flights to get to the can. Figured I could just climb down the scaffolding like a real man."
"The first step onto the metal piping was fine. The dew on the second step caused my foot to slip."
"I fell, hitting my chin on the way down, smashing my shin about halfway down, and bounced off something hard just as hit the ground—luckily feet first."
"My pride lay in pieces on the ground, but other than a cut shin, no broken bones."
"I also learned that there was another actual working bathroom on the 2nd floor."
~ frank-sarno
Don't Start None, Won't Be None
"A boy in elementary school was harassing me and said, 'What you gonna do about it? Hit me? I’m wearing glasses so you can’t!'."
"So I took his glasses off his face, stomped them, and punched him in the face."
"My 5th grade self regretted it because I had to pay for his glasses by working odd jobs all summer, but my 42 year old self pats that kid on the back all the time for doing it because that dude never messed with us again."
~ grumblebuzz
Acceptance Rescinded
"I read about an Indian guy here who got a full scholarship at a University in the USA after submitting fake marksheets and stuff [grades and test scores]."
"Everything was going smooth for him."
"But he posted a detailed Reddit post explaining every scam he did to get there."
"The post went viral, the University found out and kicked him out."
~ Empty-Coffee-7817
If Your Friends All Jumped Off A Cliff
"17 years old trying to impress a girl by jumping off a relatively high, maybe 50 foot, cliff to the sea. Lots of guys did it and were telling me it's fun."
"I jumped feet first."
"Broke my right tibia (shin bone) and calcaneus (heel bone) on impact.
"Sharp pain up to my hips. Couldn't paddle with my leg."
"I got pulled up by one of the guys and I spent all summer in a cast."
"Yes, I regretted it."
~ Hermit_Bottle
⚡️ZAP⚡️
"Archery hunting on about 300 acres of hardwoods past about 150 acres of cattle pasture."
"I had crossed over the electric fence a hundred times, usually just by placing my backpack or something similar on the fence to push the wire down enough for me to step over."
"Once I lazily used my bow to push it down and it slipped while my crotch was dead center over the electric fence. Despite multiple layers on, that fence fried my entire groin so bad my kidneys and bladder felt it."
"I f*cked around and found out."
~ Miserable_Wrap_4914
On Thin Ice
"My friend and I had been playing out on the ice for hours, literally 6+ hours. We decide at that point we're gonna start walking home."
"She was on the other side and almost off the ice and I heard the crack. Didn't even have time to react... I went under."
"To this day I don't know how I survived. I have no memory of anything past looking up at the ice when I was underwater."
"According to my friend I somehow crawled out, she stripped me down and I walked the like 2 miles home barefoot and in my underwear."
~ HmNotToday1308
Listen
"Kept dating a girl legit my whole family told me was bad news. She emotionally abused and cheated on me for years before we finally split.
"Now 8 years later, she tells everyone she meets about how I'm such a horrible person."
"If your whole family gives you an intervention about your significant other, LISTEN."
~ Kalos9990
Change The World
"I ran for Congress thinking I could change the world. It nearly ruined my life. Took years to recover professionally and emotionally."
"I realized very quickly, despite years of planning and preparation, that I didn’t have what it takes to succeed in the political arena. I’m not narcissistic, sociopathic, or mean enough to win in that environment while maintaining my integrity and sense of self."
"I started getting good at it and found myself becoming someone I neither recognized nor liked."
"I believed that if I won the race, I would have lost my family and the parts of me I was proud of in the process. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t win."
~ Active_Letterhead275
Family History
"My grandfather was an alcoholic. My father was an alcoholic. Definitely wouldn't happen to ME though."
"F*cking wrong."
"Drank too much beer in college. Party, party."
"Drank too much on weekends through my thirties."
"Finally got sober when I had my daughter at forty."
"Literally the best thing that ever happened to me other than my daughter was 100% stopping any form of alcohol in any way. Got my life back. Found happiness again."
~ ssshield
Starting Over
"I was using and selling drugs. Got locked up. Now I'm starting life over with nothing."
~ Mysterious-Oven4461
"Not nothing, you're starting with sobriety. That's a big deal and gift to yourself in that it allows you to begin to rebuild."
~ victoryatsea0008
"You don’t have nothing, you have your life experience that many can learn from. Maybe you can save someone from going down your path?"
~ BumblebeeAbject4767
"It gets better. Own your mistakes and keep working towards that better life. Your situation will incremently improve until, one day you look back and its all just a bad memory."
"Stay out of trouble, complete your probation, and expunge your record as soon as you are able."
~ Ralphinader
"Thanks for all of the kind words. Yes, I'm sober and it is a big relief not to worry about the next time I'll get busted or anything like that."
"I'm very thankful to have a second chance."
~ Mysterious-Oven4461
What's your best example of FAFO?
