What is "swa"

Swa \Swa\ (sw[aum]), adv. [See So.] So. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.

SWA may refer to:

• SWA (band), started by Chuck Dukowski, bass player for Black Flag
• SWA (magazine), an Indonesian business magazine
• SWA, IATA airport code for:
  • Shantou Waisha Airport, prior to 15 December 2011
  • Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport, since 15 December 2011
• Scotch Whisky Association
• Sex Workers Anonymous, a support group
• SOAP with Attachments, a file transfer mechanism for web browsers
• South-West Africa, the former name of the Republic of Namibia
• Southwest Airlines
• Stardom World Association
• Steel Wire Armoured (SWA) Cable
• Super White Arrow, a limited express train in Japan
• ISO 639-2 and ISO 639-3 code for the Swahili language
• Swiss World Airways, a defunct airline

SWA (pronounced swǒ) the band originally started as a concept defined by Chuck Dukowski, former bassist of Black Flag while he was still a member of that band. The name (which is pronounced like "Swah" and not "S-W-A") was created by assigning an alphabetical value to numbers on a gaming die, then rolling the die three times. Dukowski would later claim that the name was offered up by Joe Carducci and was accepted by the rest of the band, despite Chuck's own discomfort with it. SWA has had the dubious distinction of being considered the "worst" band to ever record for SST Records by many label aficionados and, in one infamous fanzine article, Steve Albini claimed that among the worst things a person could do was "listen to SWA" and "be SWA". However, others have come to the band's defense. The band existed from the mid 1980s until 1992 and released 5 full-length albums on SST Records, all of which are currently out of print.

SWA is a biweekly business magazine based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Established in 1985, the magazine was first named as SWA Sembada. It has attracted thousands of readers across the archipelago. The magazine is part of Sembada Swakarya foundation and is published by PT Grafiti Pers, a subsidiary of the foundation.