I am so deeply obsessed with Netflix’s cheerleading documentary Cheer, that I may need assistance in weaning myself off the show. I’ve watched it twice. I follow everyone on Instagram. I have issues.

One mystery – aside from BUT HOW DID SHERBS FALL, HOW – that has been plaguing me since finishing the series is what the hell FIOFMU stands for.

It’s emblazoned on all the cheerleaders social media posts. On their crop tops. The term is everywhere, and yet no one explains what it means.

Turns out, that’s because it’s kiiiind of a Navarro College secret.

1. There Was An Urban Dictionary Listing

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Black light pep rally ????

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But it’s since been deleted. Eagle-eyed fans have, however, copy and pasted what existed up there so we can blindly believe it if we want.

Urban Dictionary’s definition was “Fight it out, fuck ’em up,” which would make sense on a lot of levels – that’s a great cheerleading slogan, it’s also not something you’d want associated with Navarro College publicly, I’m sure.

But like I said, that entry has been deleted and there’s other theories circling the web too.

2. A Navarro Cheerleader Has Weighed In, Kinda

“#FIOFMU is a coded message/motto, that you learn and earn throughout the year while on the team. Learning the meaning is entirely special and is only known by Navarro Cheerleaders and Navarro Cheer alumni,” said Kayla Culver, a Navarro cheerleader on Twitter.

This was in response to one of the MANY tweets asking the social media universe about the meaning of the term. But it doesn’t give us much, tbh. Like – ok so it exists and we know it’s a motto, but we STILL NEED TO KNOW WHAT IT MEANS.

Surely Navarro alumni aren’t this good at keeping secrets.

3. Turns Out, They Are Really Good At Keeping Cheer Secrets

Decider found a Reddit thread which had some juicy info on FIOFMU.

In response to someone asking if anyone knew what FIOFMU stood for, user delicious922 wrote:

No. Those abbreviations for cheerleaders are sacred. Only team members know what it stands for. At least that’s how it works for most teams.

So basically you have to make the Navarro team to find out, officially, what FIOFMU stands for. COOL. THAT SHOULD BE EASY.

4. There’s One Other Strong Potential Meaning, Though

If you search on Twitter (like, really search hard) you’ll find a lot of people mentioning the motto “Faith in our family makes us” or “friends instead of family make us”.

I think we can deduce relatively safely that “family” is part of the motto – the series definitely highlights the close nature of the team and the way everyone supports each other, it would make sense for there to be a spirit of family among them and as part of their wider motto.

Otherwise everyone has remained tight lipped. Even ex-cheerleaders who would totally want attention right now in all the Cheer fuss haven’t dropped the meaning for us all.

Guess I’ll have to try out for the Navarro team after all. #FIOFMU.

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