Thread: foo and bar

  1. #1
    Former Member
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    foo and bar

    so, what do these words mean anyway?
    I've found them in here, in another website I go to, in the Allegro Documentation and in a lot of places...

    but what the hell do they mean? and where did they come from?

    Oskilian

  2. #2
    Registered User Aran's Avatar
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    they come from mars and they mean nothing... it's just damn fun to say..... FOOBAR!

    (i, frankly, have no idea)

  3. #3
    Still A Registered User DISGUISED's Avatar
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    My guess

    I constantly see Authors use these words in example code problems that I read all the time. I thinks it's because they are probably ex-millitary. A popular acronym used in the millitary(U.S) for a problem is FUBAR = F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition.

    //Excuse my Encrypted French on that one.

    I could be totally wrong but that's my guess on that.

  4. #4
    Registered User C_Coder's Avatar
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    Have you seen the film Tango & Cash with Kurt Russel & Slyvester Stallone. Thats where I first heard it and it's spelt FUBAR, it means "F***ed Up Beyond All Recognotion".
    Maybe FOOBAR has a meaning also I don't know?
    All spelling mistakes, syntatical errors and stupid comments are intentional.

  5. #5
    Registered User C_Coder's Avatar
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    I hate it when that happens.
    Grrrrrr
    All spelling mistakes, syntatical errors and stupid comments are intentional.

  6. #6
    Moderatly illuminating from dictionary.com:

    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.

    A little less illuminating, albeit far more detailed (also from dictionary.com):

    FOOBAR
    "There's always another way"
    -lightatdawn (lightatdawn.cprogramming.com)

  7. #7
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    Jargon File: Foo
    All generalizations are false

  8. #8
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    I can tell you this: there's a word in russian that sound the exact same and it has the same meaning as 'yuck' in English.... I tell you, this is all a russian conspiracy (those communists)... trying to get into your heads... beware!

    ...or it could mean some other junk that happens to reside in my head at the moment...
    This is my signature. Remind me to change it.

  9. #9
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    is that true? (I mean the russian word)

    Oskilian

  10. #10
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    Yeah... as much as I like to make things up, this is as true as it gets... ask anyone you know that speaks Russian (j/k )... right, I didn't expect you would I used to live in a former part of Russia (that would be Crimea...)

    Foo, this stuff sucks...
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  11. #11
    Registered User shark_boy's Avatar
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    Smile

    "Foobar" is NOT a word in Russian. "Foo" is an old slang word that can mean 'bad' or 'yuck'. I lived in Russia, and I usually only heard the word 'foo' when an old lady was yelling at a dog, or something along those lines.

  12. #12
    Let's see...The first time I heard foo and bar, were in an Assembly Language book, which was trying to teach other number bases. It was really funny, but you know, it works. I learned binary and hex pretty fast.
    What will people say if they hear that I'm a Jesus freak?
    What will people do if they find that it's true?
    I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak, there is no disguising the truth!

    Jesus Freak, D.C. Talk

    -gnu-ehacks

  13. #13
    back? dbaryl's Avatar
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    >>Foobar" is NOT a word in Russian.

    I never said it was...

    >>"Foo" is an old slang word that can mean 'bad' or 'yuck'. I lived in Russia, and I usually only heard the word 'foo' when an old lady was yelling at a dog, or something along those lines.

    I get it, an old russian lady (babusha)
    This is my signature. Remind me to change it.

  14. #14
    Hamster without a wheel iain's Avatar
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    I thought it origniated from hacker speak ( i think i remember something baout it in HD)

    FOOBAR and RTFM
    Monday - what a way to spend a seventh of your life

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