[comp.lang.c] "foo" origin

jdw@hpfijdw.HP.COM (Jeff Wood) (11/18/89)

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 ()".  Do any of you gurus from way
back know what this stands for????

Jeff Wood.foo

gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL (Doug Gwyn) (11/19/89)

In article <15080002@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 ()".  Do any of you gurus from way
>back know what this stands for????

Yes -- "foo" has two contribution origins.
The obvious one is "phooey" and related terms.
The more interesting one is FUBAR, which you can find in a dictionary.
Examples of filenames were often given as "FOO.BAR" etc.
Some sites adopted a convention that files called "foo" something
("foo files") were junk files that could be deleted without qualms.
Undoubtedly there is more to the history of "foo" than this,
but I hope that suffices.

gm@cunixd.cc.columbia.edu (Gary Mathews) (11/19/89)

In article <15080002@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 ()".  Do any of you gurus from way
>back know what this stands for????
>
>Jeff Wood.foo

	To my knowledge "foo" comes from "foo bar", which was another way of
writing "fubar".  Finally, "fubar" is an acronyn for "F*cked Up Beyond All
Repair", which describes most software and hardware today.  Well, that's what
one of my profesors told me, so please flame to /dev/null if you want to.

Gary
--
Gary Jason Mathews      | gm@cunixd.cc.columbia.edu    gm@cunixd (BITNET 
Columbia University     | Death is life's way of telling you you've been fired.
------------------------+ CPU time flies when you have a lot of bugs

gaynor@busboys.rutgers.edu (Silver) (11/19/89)

jdw@hpfijdw.hp.com:
> [What does foo mean?]

`foo' is the first syllable of `foobar', a lighter-hearted misspelling of
`fubar', which is an acronym for "fucked up beyond all recognition".  As
explained to me, the term came into widespread use in WWI to describe the
remains of unidentifiable less-than-fortunates.  The true obscenity here
is not the use of that word which we all say more often than our mothers
wished we would, but rather the testimony of human inhumanity.

Regards, [Ag]

deastman@pilot.njin.net (Don Eastman) (11/20/89)

> `foo' is the first syllable of `foobar', a lighter-hearted misspelling of
> `fubar', which is an acronym for "fucked up beyond all recognition".  As

It can also be used generically to describe the pathogenesis of a neat
idea compromised under the duress of real world time constraints.

Don  Eastman
deastman@pilot.njin.net

dan@charyb.COM (Dan Mick) (11/21/89)

And, of course, all the discussion about foo and bar is contained in
the files you should have read before you posted anything to the net.
<sigh>

-- 
.sig files are idiotic and wasteful.

lmb@ghoti.uucp (Larry Breed) (12/01/89)

"foo" and "bar" were in use around Harvard and MIT in 1960.  John McCarthy's
Lisp project moved to Stanford in 1961 or 1962 and began to disseminate
"foo" usage on the west coast.  Perhaps some good Cambridge graybeard
can tell us the history before 1960.



Disclaimer: Don't blame my employer, blame:
Larry Breed			(415) 855-4460
uucp: uunet!ibmsupt!lmb		inet: ibmsupt!lmb@uunet.uu.net

richard@torch.co.uk (Richard Nuttall) (12/01/89)

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 ()".  Do any of you gurus from way
>back know what this stands for????

This is one of those questions that gets you a different answer each day
of the week.

Here is the version I heard.

FUBAR, meaning Fu**ed Up Beyond All Recognition  was split into two parts,

FU and BAR and used in example cases.

Someone in Dec, some time ago wanted a name to use in an example in a document,
but didn't want the swear word in there. To disguise this, the word FOO was
used instead of FU.

I hope that's at least partially right.


-- 
Richard Nuttall                       |    stc!datlog!torch!richard
Manager, X Technology                 |    richard@torch.co.uk
Torch Technology, Great Shelford,     |    Tel : +44 223 841000 X 308
Cambridge, CB2 5LQ, England           |    Fax : +44 223 840223

amull@Morgan.COM (Andrew P. Mullhaupt) (12/03/89)

In article <3147@ibmpa.UUCP>, lmb@ghoti.uucp (Larry Breed) writes:
> "foo" and "bar" were in use around Harvard and MIT in 1960.  John McCarthy's
> Lisp project moved to Stanford in 1961 or 1962 and began to disseminate
> "foo" usage on the west coast.  Perhaps some good Cambridge graybeard
> can tell us the history before 1960.
> 

Most slang of this kind originates in the military. FUBAR and SNAFU
are acronyms for (in polite usage) "Fouled Up Beyond All Repair"
and "Situation Normal, All Fouled Up". SNAFU came before FUBAR,
which seems natural. Both were in widespread use in the United
States Armed Forces during World War II. It is possible that these
terms predate this war, but I don't know how authoritative you can
expect to get. The best reference is the new Dictionary of American
and Regional English, which supersedes Eric Partridge's famous
Slang Dictionary. D.A.R.E. is published in installments, (like OED)
and I don't know that all the volumes are out, so you might look it up 
in Partridge. 

Also: "Bug" is actually due to computing, and there was an actual
moth at Harvard. Clooge, (the original spelling of what has now been
corrupted to kludge - now rhyming with fudge) was around in Viet Nam,
but again I don't know how far back it goes.


Later,
Andrew Mullhaupt

dan@charyb.COM (Dan Mick) (12/04/89)

In article <564@s5.Morgan.COM> amull@Morgan.COM (Andrew P. Mullhaupt) writes:
>Clooge, (the original spelling of what has now been
>corrupted to kludge - now rhyming with fudge) was around in Viet Nam,
>but again I don't know how far back it goes.
>

'kluge' has been around for a lot longer.  It means "clever" in German,
and probably Yiddish as a result; makes a lot more sense that way.  I doubt
that 'clooge' was the original spelling, but it's closer to the original
pronunciation, which is likely 'clue-geh'.
-- 
.sig files are idiotic and wasteful.

oconnell@unmvax.cs.unm.edu (Pat O'Connell) (12/05/89)

In an early Daffy Duck cartoon (late 30's?--it's in black & white) that my
kids replay incessantly, they use the phrase "Silence is Foo" to ask for
quiet in the operating room theater while Daffy's mad doctor boss sews up
a football.  So the expression is older than WW II--I think it means
something like the "mandatory" rather than "fouled up".  Anyway, my 
daughter asked about what it means in the cartoon.  Anyone out there of
appropriate vintage to help us figure out this slang??

Pat O'Connell

gak@gakbox.Sun.COM (Richard Stueven) (12/05/89)

In article <576@torch.co.uk> richard@torch.co.uk (Richard Nuttall) writes:
>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 ()".  Do any of you gurus from way
>>back know what this stands for????
>
> [ ... ]
>Someone in Dec, some time ago wanted a name to use in an example in a document,
>but didn't want the swear word in there. To disguise this, the word FOO was
>used instead of FU.

In an old (late '30s) Daffy Duck cartoon, he parades around carrying
a sign that says "FOO!".  No explanation was given; this was in the
days when he was *really* daffy.


Richard Stueven                                  gak@sun.com

***These opinions belong to Ernie and his little pal Gus.***
              ***He's mad!  Mad, I tell you!***

cik@l.cc.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) (12/06/89)

In article <575@unmvax.unm.edu>, oconnell@unmvax.cs.unm.edu (Pat O'Connell) writes:
> In an early Daffy Duck cartoon (late 30's?--it's in black & white) that my
> kids replay incessantly, they use the phrase "Silence is Foo" to ask for
> quiet in the operating room theater while Daffy's mad doctor boss sews up
> a football.  So the expression is older than WW II--I think it means
> something like the "mandatory" rather than "fouled up".  Anyway, my 
> daughter asked about what it means in the cartoon.  Anyone out there of
> appropriate vintage to help us figure out this slang??

I remember that "foo" was an expression used in the _Smokey Stover_ comic
strip.  It was also used as a somewhat derogatory manner in ordinary speech,
as, "Foo to you."
-- 
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907
Phone: (317)494-6054
hrubin@l.cc.purdue.edu (Internet, bitnet, UUCP)