Slang dictionary
mufo
or MuFo [moo-foh]
黑料网 does听尘耻蹿辞听mean?
Mufo is short for mutual follower, referring to someone you follow on social media who follows you back.
But, it is sometimes an alternative form of听mofo, a softening of the vulgar slang听motherfucker.
Where does mufo come from?
The term听mufo clips听and blends the expression听mutual follower. The term mutual follower is seen by at least June 2007 on Twitter, where a听mutual follower is someone you follow on social media who follows you back (hence听mutual).
tried to tidy up Twitter and leave anyone who wasn't a mutual follower but Twitter doesn't seem to let me leave anyone!!!
— Tish Shute (@TishShute)
Because mutual follower is just apparently way too long for the internet, mutual follower was shortened to mufo by at least 2010.
Think I jus unfollowed all the regular mufo tht I THOUGHT was following me… hit up ya source to see what I'm lookn like
— Mr Young (@Grade_A_Dre)
Before the social media听mufo went mainstream, mufo was sometimes used as shorthand for motherfucker or motherfucking. It’s still used that way sometimes online, similar to mofo,听pronounced [moh-foh] and which dates back to the 1960s.
So if I don't tweet… muFo's be unfollowing on the low…. 0_o
— DefinitionOfNice (@Dnice_757)
The expression mufo became more prevalent in 2016 on Twitter, perhaps in part to debates about the US presidential election that year that caused many people to unfollow social media friends.
lost my first (known) longtime-ish mufo today, so it begins. the great unfollowing
— kate (@garbagekate)
Examples of mufo
Who uses mufo?
The notion of mutual followers,听AKA听mufos, is found on social media, especially Twitter and Instagram. People have a lot of love for their听mufos, and it can be considered rude to unfollow or mute听them.
Area Man Unmutes Mufo, Is Instantly Reminded of Reason for Mute
— bitteranagram (@bitteranagram)
It is less common to see mufo as听motherfucker with the new spread of听mutual followers, but it still sees use.
When I look in the mirror I see one amazing ass mufo guy.
— *IDontGiveaFUCK* (@DavidThat_Guy)
MUFON, sometimes written MUFO, is the acronym for the Mutual UFO Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the search for intelligent extraterrestrial life.
Mufo is not to be confused with muufo, a traditional Somali flat bread.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of mufo 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 mufo that will help our users expand their word mastery.