[MLUG - DISCUSSION] foo -- the final answer

[Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Wed, 1 Oct 2003, Spurling, Shannon wrote:

> I think it came from the French derivation, IIRC, but I think it was
> from Fou, not Faux. I was talking about the WWII pilots account. I don't
> know where the comic strip came from, but I think it may have been post
> war.


Nope.  It came from "foo" which was just a silly word used by a comic
strip writer.  He found it on the bottom of a Chinese statue back in the
1930s, if not earlier.  It might have been a transliteration of a Chinese
word for "happiness" or "prosperity."  Read about it here:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/F/foo.html

That's a nice reference, especially for computer-related uses of 'foo.'
More good stuff on foo here:

http://www.toonopedia.com/smokey.htm
http://www.ufx.org/foofighters/foo.htm

Mike
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