This terms does not, in fact, refer to some
strange form of
retrievable bowling ball. No, friends, this term is much,
much more useful; it ranks up there with gems like
PEBKAC and
eye-dee-ten-tee (write it out, 1,2 and 4 are letters).
It, my friends, was laid down on me verily, in the form of possible smack, whilst whitewater rafting on the Penobscot River in northern Maine. We had gathered to hear our lead guide, a monstrously slacking stoner with cool mountain-climbing - type gear slung around himself - explain to us what the procedure is for surviving a fall out of the raft in rapids. As he put it, if you can, self-rescue, or get your own ass back in the boat. In the boat is better than out of the boat. If you can't, hope that a friend/colleague/raftmate sees you and decides you're worth pulling in.
If, however, you drift past a paddle length away, he told us, "...you are then AMF YO-YO, boys and girls. As in Adios motherfucker, you're on your own!"
Truly, a wondrous term.