WTF

See also: wtf

English

Alternative forms

• wtf
• whiskey tango foxtrot (NATO radio phonetic alphabet)

Phrase

(deprecated template usage) WTF

1. (military slang, Internet slang, text messaging) Initialism of what the fuck.
   • 1985, Dick Dunn, “China Cat lyrics – explanations?”, in net.music.gdead, Usenet:

     I've READ them; I know what all the words are. I still say, "WTF, over?" Someone's playing with our heads on this one, but what's all the word stew?

   • 1994, Marat Fayzullin, “Re: MMM”, in relcom.talk, Usenet:

     Now, please, explain WTF did you mean by this text?

   • 2005, “defect violation” (username), “Re: WTF!!”, in uk.sport.football.clubs.liverpool, Usenet:

     WTF are you on about? We played some very good football for most of the match, […]

   • 2019, 20 November, Carol Midgley, "Prince Andrew is ‘not very quick on his feet’, says the Duchess of York. What of her?" (in The Times newspaper)

     WTF was that about?

2. (rare) Where the fuck, why the fuck, when the fuck, or who the fuck.

Usage notes

• (what the fuck): WTF, like the full expression what the fuck, may be used either to introduce a question:

  WTF are you talking about?

  or as an interjection:

  WTF! That's a load of bull!

• (what the fuck): WTF is sometimes spelled or written out in the NATO phonetic alphabet: whiskey tango foxtrot.
• (what the fuck): WTF is not usually considered as offensive as the full expression what the fuck.

Derived terms

• WTFery

Related terms

• DTF

Translations

What the fuck

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 吓？

  Mandarin: 我操 (wǒcāo!)

  Min Nan: 三小

• German: WZT
• Hebrew: מה לעזאזל?
• Indonesian: apa-apaan (id)
• Italian: che cazzo, che cavolo
• Portuguese: PQP (pt)
• Romanian: CD, ce naiba?
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: что за хуйня́ (što za xujnjá), како́го хре́на (kakóvo xréna), что за хрень (što za xrenʹ), что за на́хуй? (što za náxuj?)
• Serbo-Croatian: ЊТФ
• Slovak: ČDP
• Spanish: ¿pero qué coño? (Spain), ¿pero qué demonios? (Spain), ¿pero qué cojones? (Spain), ¿qué chucha? (Chile), ¿qué mierda? (Chile, Argentina), ¿pero qué chingados? (Mexico)
• Swedish: vad fan
• Tagalog: puta ano?
• Turkish: N'oluyor lan?

Proper noun

WTF

1. (sports, taekwondo) World Taekwondo Federation
   • 1998, The complete Idiot's guide to Taekwondo:

     Likewise the WTF says they are the official Tae Kwon Do organization because […]

   • 2003, Taekwondo: A Step-By-Step Guide to the Korean Art of Self-Defense:

     The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognizes WTF at its 83rd […]

   • 2005, Official Taekwondo Training Manual:

     The Secretariat of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) is located in Seoul, South Korea, in a beautiful edifice […]

Anagrams

• FTW, TfW, ftw, tfw