|
Dictionaries
- WordNet
- Jargon File
- Computing Dictionary
- Moby Thesaurus
|
Created by
www.noamnet.com
|
 Definitions for foobar: Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002)
:
FOOBAR
FTP Operation Over Big Address Records (RFC 1639, FTP)
Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)
:
foobar n. [very common] Another widely used metasyntactic variable;
see foo for etymology. Probably originally propagated through
DECsystem manuals by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1960s and
early 1970s; confirmed sightings there go back to 1972. Hackers do _not_
generally use this to mean FUBAR in either the slang or jargon sense.
See also Fred Foobar. In RFC1639, "FOOBAR" was made an abbreviation
for "FTP Operation Over Big Address Records", but this was an obvious
backronym. It has been plausibly suggested that "foobar" spread among
early computer engineers partly because of FUBAR and partly because "foo
bar" parses in electronics techspeak as an inverted foo signal; if a
digital signal is coded so that a positive voltage or high current
condition represents a "1", then a horizontal bar is commonly placed
over the signal label.
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)
:
foobar
Another common metasyntactic variable; see foo.
Hackers do *not* generally use this to mean FUBAR in either
the slang or jargon sense.
According to a german correspondent, the term was coined
during WW2 by allied troops who could not pronounce the german
word "furchtbar" (horrible, terrible, awful).
[Jargon File]
(2003-07-03)
Related Sites
|
