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From: Joel Ray Holveck <joelh@gnu.ai.mit.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.unix.shell,comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.x,alt.os.linux,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,gnu.misc.discuss,comp.unix.solaris
Subject: Re: unix acronyms -collecting a list?
Date: 26 May 1997 00:12:11 -0400
Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab
Lines: 31
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References: <5kd2ng$c8b$1@rzsun02.rrz.uni-hamburg.de>
<5l3c2f$i1j@pasilla.bbnplanet.com> <337A003F.6A7B@ncofsi.com>
<3378D37F.462F3A47@gaijin.com> <m3bu6dyd3y.fsf@zaphod.enst.fr>
<5lv7kg$oen$1@taliesin.netcom.net.uk>
<jR8CBBAo1BhzEwIZ@hayford.demon.co.uk> <kigaflngwax.fsf@jagor.srce.hr>
<3385BE4C.77ACCBD7@anu.edu.au> <kigraeyqeaz.fsf@jagor.srce.hr>
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az915@freenet.carleton.ca (William G. Royds) writes:
> > > > > Where does 'foo' come from
> > > > File: jargon.info, Node: foo, Next: foobar, Prev: fontology, Up: = F =
> > > > :foo: /foo/ 1. /interj./ Term of disgust. 2. Used very
> > > > [3 pages of fooey deleted]
> > > Sheesh. What have you got on "bar"?
> > File: jargon.info, Node: bar, Next: bare metal, Prev: banner, Up: = B =
> > :bar: /bar/ /n./ 1. The second {metasyntactic variable},
> > after {foo} and before {baz}. "Suppose we have two
> > functions: FOO and BAR. FOO calls BAR...." 2. Often
> > appended to {foo} to produce {foobar}.
> Actually the original term was from the Second World war and was a
> description of what happened to a plane hit by ack-ack fire (anti
> aircraft guns). THe term was fubar (F*cked Up Beyond All Recognition)
> with the first part Fu (F*cked Up) becoming foo by early lisp hackers.
As the 'foo' post explained, 'foo' has a much richer ancestory than
the common conception that it comes from 'fubar'. I do exppect,
however, that the use of 'bar' as the second metasynactic variable
does come from the fubar usage. Nevertheless, I suggest that
interested parties read the Jargon File themselves, at
http://www.ccil.org/jargon
--
http://www.wp.com/piquan --- Joel Ray Holveck --- joelh@gnu.ai.mit.edu
All my opinions are my own, not the Free Software Foundation's.
Second law of programming:
Anything that can go wrong wi
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