Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!ucsd!usc!snorkelwacker!mintaka!yale!cmcl2!adm!smoke!gwyn
From: gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL (Doug Gwyn)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: 'foo bar' <- What's the meaning of?
Keywords: foo bar
Message-ID: <13513@smoke.BRL.MIL>
Date: 9 Aug 90 19:24:50 GMT
References: <994@netmbx.UUCP>
Organization: U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory, APG, MD.
Lines: 11

In article <994@netmbx.UUCP> docbrain@netmbx.UUCP (Frank Seidinger) writes:
>'foo bar'. What stands this for.

If this isn't in the Frequently Asked Questions list, it should be.
"foo.bar" in its various forms traces back to "FUBAR", which is an
acronym for Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition, apparently in wide
use with the U.S. military since World War II, possibly earlier.
It was used in contexts similar to those in which "SNAFU" was used.
The use of "FOO.BAR" as a sample filename in computer user documentation
was undoubtedly meant to add a little humorous interest to the example;
I've seen such examples dating from the mid-1970s.