When/Where did "FYI" originate?
June 23, 2009 1:50 PM Subscribe
the Acronym "F.Y.I " Who came up with it and how old is it?
I started wondering about this after Watching an episode of BBCs "Ashes to Ashes" which is set in England in 1982. The acronym "F.Y.I." was used by the main character (who has been transported from the present day) to the confusion of the characters from 1982. This was meant to imply that "FYI" is a new internet era phrase that someone from 1982 wouldn't understand. But THEN I was watching the second episode of the twilight zone first season (1959) and the main character used the phrase. So...how old is F.Y.I. really?
I started wondering about this after Watching an episode of BBCs "Ashes to Ashes" which is set in England in 1982. The acronym "F.Y.I." was used by the main character (who has been transported from the present day) to the confusion of the characters from 1982. This was meant to imply that "FYI" is a new internet era phrase that someone from 1982 wouldn't understand. But THEN I was watching the second episode of the twilight zone first season (1959) and the main character used the phrase. So...how old is F.Y.I. really?
OED first citation for 'FYI' as a phrase: '1941 Washington Post 27 Apr. 5/3 ‘FYI’ titles this new program for the Mutual network... The letters mean ‘For Your Information’–a series detailing how the United States is combating sabotage and espionage.'
The dictionary also cites several other examples from before 1982.
posted by mattn at 2:01 PM on June 23, 2009 [2 favorites]
The dictionary also cites several other examples from before 1982.
posted by mattn at 2:01 PM on June 23, 2009 [2 favorites]
Definitely not an internet era catchphrase. It's not ROFL.
I associate it with 1950's-era bureaucrats. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, on a need-to-know basis. I picture "FYI" stamped on a confidential folder.
So I'd call it military-govspeak, from the same handbook as AWOL, POTUS, and (later) fubar and snafu.
posted by rokusan at 2:08 PM on June 23, 2009
I associate it with 1950's-era bureaucrats. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, on a need-to-know basis. I picture "FYI" stamped on a confidential folder.
So I'd call it military-govspeak, from the same handbook as AWOL, POTUS, and (later) fubar and snafu.
posted by rokusan at 2:08 PM on June 23, 2009
Here are a couple of pre-1941 examples from Google Books, hinting at an origin in journalism:
"FYI — for your information. Used in wire service messages to those handling copy." — Reporting News, by William Earl Hall (1936), p. 428.
"FYI — 'For Your Information.' Often used on confidential material sent by press associations to newspapers but not for publication." — The Reporter and the News, by Philip Wiley Porter and Norval Neil Luxon (1935), p. 545.
posted by gubo at 2:24 PM on June 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
"FYI — for your information. Used in wire service messages to those handling copy." — Reporting News, by William Earl Hall (1936), p. 428.
"FYI — 'For Your Information.' Often used on confidential material sent by press associations to newspapers but not for publication." — The Reporter and the News, by Philip Wiley Porter and Norval Neil Luxon (1935), p. 545.
posted by gubo at 2:24 PM on June 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
I think it's something that usage wise is American-old(ish) but British-new(ish) but I have no idea where in the world I'd find proof of my theory.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:24 PM on June 23, 2009
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:24 PM on June 23, 2009
(I checked my four different wire and telegraph codebooks (1902-1911) and while there are tons of nifty abbreviations (including POTUS, as it turns out), FYI is not in any of those. I have a strange library.)
posted by rokusan at 4:42 PM on June 23, 2009
posted by rokusan at 4:42 PM on June 23, 2009
rokusan: you have a strange library indeed.
I like gubo's note about "For Your Information" being the converse of "For General Release" in cases where both private and public documents may be conveyed over the same channels.
posted by kandinski at 6:31 PM on June 23, 2009
I like gubo's note about "For Your Information" being the converse of "For General Release" in cases where both private and public documents may be conveyed over the same channels.
posted by kandinski at 6:31 PM on June 23, 2009
FYI: For Your Information was a TV news magazine on ABC in the U.S. from 1982-1985.
It's interesting that they felt the need to expand the acronym. The same thing is done in an LDS publication dated 1981.
My point, such as it is, is that the phrase seemed to be reaching mainstream audiences, but wasn't yet considered automatically understood on its own.
posted by dhartung at 8:00 PM on June 23, 2009
It's interesting that they felt the need to expand the acronym. The same thing is done in an LDS publication dated 1981.
My point, such as it is, is that the phrase seemed to be reaching mainstream audiences, but wasn't yet considered automatically understood on its own.
posted by dhartung at 8:00 PM on June 23, 2009
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