Difference between revisions of "Foo"
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| − | '''''foo''''' is a [ | + | '''''foo''''' is a [[wikipedia:Metasyntactic variable|Metasyntactic variable]]: a word that does not mean anything by itself but is used to represent other, unspecified words. |
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| + | In the [[NetHack]] community, people may refer to [[foocubus|''foo''cubus]] to represent a ''suc''cubus or ''in''cubus, or [[footrice|''foo''trice]] to refer to a ''chicka''trice or ''cocka''trice. To [[fooproof|''foo''proof]] an object is to make it ''rust''proof, ''fire''proof or ''corrode''proof, depending on the object, but a better word to use in this case is ''[[fixed]]''. | ||
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| + | The word ''foo'' is used widely in the hacker (and NetHack-er) community, but it can be traced back to World War II and earlier. Its precise origin is not clear; [http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3092 RFC 3092] lists several plausible etymologies of the word. | ||
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| + | NetHack players generally do not use ''bar'', ''baz'', and the rest of the common metasyntactic variables. | ||
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{{wikipedia|Metasyntactic variable}} | {{wikipedia|Metasyntactic variable}} | ||
[[Category:Community]] | [[Category:Community]] | ||
[[Category:Development]] | [[Category:Development]] | ||
Revision as of 10:49, 15 November 2010
foo is a Metasyntactic variable: a word that does not mean anything by itself but is used to represent other, unspecified words.
In the NetHack community, people may refer to foocubus to represent a succubus or incubus, or footrice to refer to a chickatrice or cockatrice. To fooproof an object is to make it rustproof, fireproof or corrodeproof, depending on the object, but a better word to use in this case is fixed.
The word foo is used widely in the hacker (and NetHack-er) community, but it can be traced back to World War II and earlier. Its precise origin is not clear; RFC 3092 lists several plausible etymologies of the word.
NetHack players generally do not use bar, baz, and the rest of the common metasyntactic variables.
