foo.origin=”Smokey Stover”;

April 1st, 2003 | time-wasters

Always wondered about the origin of “foo” as it appears in nearly every programming example. Came across the answer this way:

Branden Hall’s Waxpraxis > The Flashcoders List Archives > a discussion on the Flashcoders Wiki > The Jargon Lexicon

The etymology is pretty amazing, ranging from the 1930s comic strip “Smokey Stover” to UFOs to Chinese temple lions, Army acronyms, Robert Crumb, Seattle rock bands and the Tech Model Railroad Club at MIT.

Maybe it’s common knowledge, but it’s new to me…

http://www.nanews.org Gary Smith

“Foo” was originated by Bill Hollman in the comic strip “Smokey Stover. Others
picked it up from this strip and used in several animated cartoons, notably some
that Bob Clampett directed for Warner Bros. The UFO watcher expression “foo fighter”
is traced to Smokey Stover, who often called himself a foo fighter when anyone
else would have said “firefighter”. Computer hackers use of “foo” as an all-purpose
noun can also be traced back to Smokey Stover. Hollman littered his strip with
the term, and claimed he saw it on the bottom of a Chinese figurine.