Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!metaware!fjb
From: fjb@metaware.metaware.com (Fred Bourgeois)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: "foo" origin
Summary: strcat("foo", "bar") --> "fubar"
Keywords: foo, bar, fu, bar, fubar
Message-ID: <149@metaware.metaware.com>
Date: 21 Nov 89 04:17:55 GMT
References: <19100003@hpfijdw.HP.COM>
Reply-To: fjb@metaware.UUCP (Fred Bourgeois)
Organization: Metaware Incorporated, Santa Cruz, CA
Lines: 17

In article <19100003@hpfijdw.HP.COM> jdw@hpfijdw.HP.COM (Jeff Wood) writes:
    >In my lengthy career in Computer Science at the University,
    >many professors used the acronym "foo".  None of which knew
    >its origins.  Examples of code were called "foo.c", functions
    >were called "int foo ()".

"foo" comes from "fubar", which (to use the officially sanctioned
US ARMY syntax, which happens to be its origin) is "FUBAR" (acronym).

FUBAR --> "Fowled" Up Beyond All Recognition.
You can substitute other words beginning with "F" if desired.

					-fjb
Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously, and so do I.
Fred Bourgeois	     [Insert standard disclaimers here]		MetaWare, Inc.
fjb@metaware.com			|		  2161 Delaware Avenue
...!{acad,amdcad}!metaware!fjb		|	     Santa Cruz, CA 95060-2806