Episode 306: Going AWOL

Quick Quips: This week Shauna and Dan go AWOL. Bonus: Initialisms vs Acronyms, AWOL vs Desertion, and Co-workers vs the Team Lead

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Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast 
Quick Quips
Episode 306: Going AWOL
Record Date: January 26, 2026 
Air Date: February 4, 2026

Intro

Dan:
Welcome to Bunny Trails, a whimsical adventure of idioms and other turns of phrase. 

I’m Dan Pugh

Shauna:
And I’m Shauna Harrison

Each week we take an idiom or other turn of phrase and try to tell the story from its entry into the English language, to how it’s used today. 

This week we’re back with another Quick Quips episode, a bite-sized dive into phrases that don’t quite fit our usual format.

Today, we’re going AWOL. 


Meaning
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, AWOL means,

Quote
absent without leave
broadly : absent often without notice or permission 
End quote
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/AWOL 

We mostly use AWOL today to say that someone is gone and nobody knows where they’ve gone or why they aren’t where they are supposed to be… and it’s applied rather broadly. 

How it Started (Could be figurative or literal)

1767
But it didn’t start out as a general or broad term. According to Online Etymology Dictionary, AWOL also a.w.o.l., is

Quote
a military initialism and acronym for absent without leave (the phrase itself is attested by 1767 in a military context). In U.S. military use by 1917. 

According to the "Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage" (1957), it was pronounced as four letters in World War I - a.w.o.l., and as a word in World War II - awol. 
End quote
https://www.etymonline.com/word/awol 

1863
In newspapers and other publications in the mid 1800s, rewards were offered for the location of soldiers who were missing. Lists of names were given and the status of the soldier listed after. So it might say Captain Smith, absent without leave. When reading dozens of names such as this, it’s easy to understand how people became familiar with the phrase.
https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045706/1863-12-23/ed-1/?sp=2&q=absent+without+leave&r=0.327,-0.016,0.979,0.485,0

How it Shifted (or How it Became Figurative)
As millions of civilians heard the term during World War I and II through newspapers and radio, AWOL slipped into everyday language. Over time, the consequences faded and the tone softened. So today, when someone says they ‘went AWOL,’ they don’t mean they committed a military offense, they just mean they disappeared for a while. 

1919
In the 1919 work S.O.S. America's Miracle in France by Isaac Frederick Marcosson, we find the term used to describe a soldier who had been assigned a desk job after returning from battle. 

Quote
One night he approached a comrade and asked if he could borrow a hundred francs.

"What do you want to do with this money?" asked his mate.

"I want to beat it A.W.O.L. (Absent without leave), shoot across France and join my outfit in the trenches," was his reply.
End quote
https://www.google.com/books/edition/S_O_S_America_s_Miracle_in_France/ycgLAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=AWOL+origin&pg=PA244&printsec=frontcover 

This highlights an important aspect of the phrase and why it turned into what it is today. Being absent without leave isn’t the same as desertion which implies the person has no intention of returning to military service. 

AWOL means exactly what it says - absent without leave. The intent is not assumed or implied by the statement. At least in military terms. And the phrase is often used in a neutral context, like taking roll in a classroom. The person is simply not where they are scheduled to be. 

1946
The phrase made it into the funny pages by the mid 1900s, appearing in the comic strip Reglar Fellas in The Herald out of Cleveland, Ohio, May 3, 1946. A group of boys talk to one another, 

Quote
Why weren’t you in school yesterday, pinhead, were you A.W.O.L.? 
What’s at mean, Jim?
A.W.O.L. means Absent Without Leave! 
Oh, I get it! 
Well, our stuff didn’t come back from th’ cleaners so I was A.W.O.P.! 
A.W.O.P.?
Yeah! Absent Without Pants! 
End quote
https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83035602/1946-05-03/ed-1/?sp=15&q=absent+without+leave&r=-0.015,0.061,0.917,0.454,0 

And they all walk away together laughing.

We can tell from this usage that it was expected for people to know the term but they still explained it… mainly to set up the joke. I love when we can see a phrase in the comics - it gives pretty good insight to how it was understood at the time.

Up next we’ll look at how the phrase is used today, but first, a quick thank you to our sponsors

A Quick Thank You 
Dan
This episode is brought to you by our amazing Patrons on Patreon. It’s 100% free to join the Bunny Trails community, so give our weekly discussions and poll questions a try!

Shauna
If you love our content and want more, 
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Dan
You can also get awesome name recognition like Pat Rowe and JGP do every episode. And our top spot is currently occupied by the amazing Mary Halsig Lopez.

You can join the Bunny Trails community for free at bunny trails pod on Patreon. 

That’s patreon.com/bunnytrailspod 

How it's used today

Today, AWOL is used to describe anyone who has just left a space for any length of time. It’s sometimes used in a negative context but the term itself is often meant more neutrally. 

AWOLNATION
AWOLNATION is band most known for their song Sail. The group’s name comes from a high school nickname given to frontman Aaron Bruno who was called "Awol" because he would leave without saying goodbye - often from social gatherings such as parties.
https://www.awolnationmusic.com/ 
https://youtu.be/tgIqecROs5M?si=IB5DsuMCiCg0dYuD 

2016
AWOL is a 2016 movie that uses the term to apply to multiple facets of the story. Here’s a description from YouTube movies,

Quote
Lola Kirke shines as Joey, an aimless high school graduate searching for a way out of Pennsylvania coal country. A visit to an Army recruiting office appears to provide a path. However, a chance encounter with magnetic Rayna, a slyly seductive housewife and mother neglected by her long-haul trucker husband, changes Joey’s trajectory irrevocably. As Joey falls more in love with Rayna, clouded judgment leads her down a path she can’t turn back from. With powerful performances from Kirke and Wool, director Deb Shoval’s feature film debut is a splendid and brooding meditation on the boundless possibilities of first love constricted by the trials of rural poverty.
End quote
https://youtu.be/zQMQwqVpYeE?si=d0Ly3jbwxoYFM0HB 


I won’t share any spoilers here but by the end of the movie, it isn’t entirely clear what aspect of life the character is going AWOL from. We’re going to discuss this a little more in our behind the scenes which airs every Friday. Find it at Patreon.com/BunnyTrailsPod. 

2026
It seems that advice has been shared amongst people since we gained the ability to communicate and Dear Abby is one of more well-known advice columns of the last several decades. An article by Jeanne Phillips was published to the column online at The Mercury News January 16, 2026. The article is titled, Dear Abby: My AWOL co-workers put me in a bad situation. Should I make everybody else stay late because a few have strayed? Here is an excerpt from the article,

Quote
My issue is that whenever we call a short break, some subset of people will wander away to unknown destinations. Are they looking for coffee? A bandage? A reevaluation of their life goals? We never know.

I am left with two choices: Hold everyone up and wait for them to return, which is polite but ensures we will all end the day late, or start without them.
End quote
https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/01/16/dear-abby-awol-co-workers/ 

I don’t really read advice columns, but I’ll admit that I agreed with start of the answer which reads, 

Quote
Stop being such a pushover.
End quote

There is more advice but I thought that sentence summed it up fairly well. 

So that’s AWOL - a term that started in the military, meant to describe someone who was absent without permission, and somehow made its way into everyday language as a much lighter, almost casual way to say someone disappeared.

It’s one of those phrases that still carries its original seriousness, even when we use it jokingly. Whether it’s a soldier missing from duty or a friend who fell off the map for a few days, AWOL always implies more than just “not here” - it implies unaccounted for.

So next time someone goes AWOL on your group chat, just know you’re borrowing a phrase with way more weight than it sounds like.

Shauna:
That’s about all we have for today. If you have any thoughts on the show, or pop culture references we should have included, reach out to us on Patreon, patreon.com/bunnytrailspod, or comment on our website, bunnytrailspod.com

Poll question 

Dan:

It’s poll time! 

Recently we asked our Patrons: What kind of challenges do you most enjoy?  
Learning new skills or hobbies
Solving puzzles or complex problems
Creative challenges like writing or building something
Helping others through difficult situations
Physical challenges or sports

Shauna: 

JGP said: 
Quote
Crafts for me! Even though I have been crocheting for decades, I am always finding new techniques and stitches to try and new things to attempt to make. I also love finding ways to reuse and upcycle things, a few years ago I taught myself a knotting technique for rugs that are made from various things like old sheets or t-shirts or whatever- a nice, fun challenge that both keeps me busy and also keeps stuff out of the landfill AND I get a rug I can use at the end. Win, win! 
End Quote

I might just like the challenge part... I enjoy all of these!

Dan: 
I like tackling issues and creating actionable solutions. I don't love dealing with really big issues that don't have a solution. So I tend to narrow the scope until something can be actionable, then repeat with another narrowed scope. 

Dustin shared: 
Quote 
I put down puzzles and new skills because learning languages are like big puzzles to me and they make me happy. Y'all are a part of that journey. You help me know English better. I'd like to master Korean before I have one foot in the grave
End Quote

Also a great idiom, one foot in the grave. 

As a reminder, our silly polls mean absolutely nothing and are not scientifically valid. And patrons of all levels, including our free tiers, can take part. Head over to patreon.com/bunnytrailspod to take this week’s poll!

Outro

Dan:
Thanks for joining us. We’ll talk to you again next week. Until then remember, 

Together:
Words belong to their users.