I learned this expression (which stands for "
Fuck Off And Die") through the occasionally
sullen Larry Mullen, Jr.,
U2's drummer. It is his favorite saying, according to the book
U2 At The End Of The World, by
Bill Flanagan.
During a staged
protest of the
Sellafield Nuclear Power Plant in
England, U2 were playing with the
Semaphore flags, like the ones the
Beatles used on the cover of their '
Help' album. The idea was to videotape them moving from
HELP to
FOAD. Unfortunately, by that time,
sleep deprivation and
radiation suits that made them look like
clones of the
Michelin Man had taken their toll and the event turned into a swordfight with the flags between the members.
Source: U2 At The End Of The World, by Bill Flanagan.