{"id":8686,"date":"2022-09-07T04:41:03","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T04:41:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=8686"},"modified":"2022-09-07T04:41:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T04:41:03","slug":"awol-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/awol-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"AWOL \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did your boss tell you your colleague went \u2018AWOL\u2019<\/em><\/strong> and you have to work the weekend? This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this acronym.<\/p>\n

Meaning<\/h2>\n

The acronym \u2018AWOL\u2019<\/em> stands for<\/u> \u2018Absent Without Leave<\/em>.\u2019 It\u2019s a military term describing a member of the armed forces who takes leave from their post without the proper authority from their commanding officer. Going AWOL is a serious offense in the military and results in the court-martial of the offending party.<\/p>\n

However, in recent years, civilians started using AWOL <\/em>to describe someone that\u2019s not available<\/u>. If you have a friend you haven\u2019t seen in a while and haven\u2019t talked to on the phone,<\/u> you could say they\u2019re AWOL<\/em>, and you have no idea what they\u2019re doing with their life.<\/u><\/p>\n

You could also use the phrase to describe someone that doesn\u2019t show up for work,<\/u> with no explanation for their absence.<\/p>\n

Example Usage<\/h2>\n

\u201cJean Claude just went AWOL, and the military is trying to track him down. I heard he\u2019s fighting people for money and had to leave to attend a tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMilitary members that go AWOL must undergo a court-martial, and they may receive a prison sentence for deserting their post.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly don\u2019t know where john is. He was supposed to turn up for work today, but he\u2019s not answering his phone. I think he\u2019s gone AWOL.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile you were AWOL, we were with our friends lying face down in the muck, defending our country. I hope they give you ten years for leaving us like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know where she went. She\u2019s been AWOL for the last three hours and didn\u2019t take her phone with her. Maybe we should call the police.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did you decide to go AWOL? The Captain would have given you leave if you asked for it. Now you\u2019re facing a court martial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t my decision to go AWOL. The team I was with just decided to go off the track, and there was nothing I could do to protest the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to get out of here this weekend. Let\u2019s just go AWOL. If management finds out about it, who cares? It\u2019s not like this is the military, and they\u2019ll court-martial us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go AWOL, don\u2019t come back. We don\u2019t want people like that working here. We need to be able to trust you and your commitment to the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Origin<\/h2>\n

The expression AWOL originates from the United States Military. The US armed forces introduced the acronym shortly after the First World War in the 1920s. The military used the term to describe a person absent without leave from their post.<\/p>\n

However, the term started finding its way into mainstream culture in the 1970s and 1980s. Actor Jean Claude Van Damme starred in the movie \u2018AWOL\u2019 in 1990, popularizing the term in media.<\/p>\n