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From: gam@amdahl.UUCP (G A Moffett)
Newsgroups: net.followup,net.nlang
Subject: Re: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (Last changed: 24 January 1986)
Message-ID: <2865@amdahl.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 4-Mar-86 00:12:28 EST
Article-I.D.: amdahl.2865
Posted: Tue Mar  4 00:12:28 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 5-Mar-86 06:46:32 EST
References: <2868@gatech.CSNET>
Reply-To: gam@amdahl.UUCP (G A Moffett)
Followup-To: net.nlang
Organization: Amdahl Corp, UTS Products Group
Lines: 42
Xref: watmath net.followup:5787 net.nlang:4248
Summary: true etymology of "fubar"

[ from net.announce.newusers ]

In article <2868@gatech.CSNET> usenet@gatech.UUCP writes:

> Original-from: jerry@eagle.UUCP (Jerry Schwarz)
> [Most recent change: 24 January 1986 by spaf]
> 
> 		Frequently Submitted Items
> ... 
>  2.  What is the derivation of "foo" as a filler word?
> 
>      The favorite story is that it comes from "fubar" which is an
>      acronym for "fouled up beyond all recognition", which is supposed
>      to be a military term.  (Various forms of this exist, "fouled"
>      usually being replaced by a stronger word.) "Foo" and "Bar" have
>      the same derivation.

I am tired of this sanitized (and vague) explanation of the origin
of "fubar": it really is a military term (that is, popular among
enlisted men) created during World War II, and it stands for
"fucked up beyond all recognition" (yes, really).  "Snafu"
has a similar (and probably related) history.

Also, I think "filler word" is a bit weak.  Somewhere I read "foo"
referred to as a "metasyntactic name" -- one which would safely not
occur in any existing programing language and could thus be used as a
variable name.  Even if that is not the context in which "foo" is used,
isn't there something more descriptive than "filler word"?

References:

	"Dictionary of American Slang", Harold Wentworth &
		Stuart Berg Flexner (Crowell, 1967)

	"I Hear America Talking - An Illustrated History of American
		Words and Phrases", Stuart Berg Flexner (Touchstone, 1976

[ NOTE: followups are aimed at net.nlang ]
-- 
Gordon A. Moffett		...!{ihnp4,seismo,hplabs}!amdahl!gam

I speed up to run over unicorns.