Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!bloom-beacon!bu-cs!buengc!bph
From: bph@buengc.BU.EDU (Blair P. Houghton)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: unix: Re: Meaning of foo and bar
Message-ID: <3283@buengc.BU.EDU>
Date: 22 Jun 89 18:10:24 GMT
References: <20061@adm.BRL.MIL> <408@moegate.UUCP>
Reply-To: bph@buengc.bu.edu (Blair P. Houghton)
Followup-To: news.dev.null
Organization: Boston Univ. Col. of Eng.
Lines: 20

In article <408@moegate.UUCP> soley@moegate.UUCP (Norman S. Soley) writes:
>In article <20061@adm.BRL.MIL> pm4062ms@tecnet-clemson.arpa writes:
>>FUBAR --  F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition.
>>
>>I believe 'foo' and 'bar' simply are syllables from the last one.
>
>Foo long pre-dates FUBAR, which is WWII US army slang. It appeared
>frequently in comic strips (Pogo, Smokey Stover) and cartoons (Warner
>Brothers) in the 1930's as a nonsense or filler word. It's most likely
>it's current use was originated by a comic freak.
> 
>Is it time for a comp.what.is.foo? 

No.  It is time to politely inform all readers that this word is defined
in the frequently-asked-questions section of the monthly posting to
news.announce.newusers.  Therefore, there is no excuse for anyone to ask
for this definition.

				--Blair
				  "RTFM."