February 8, 2026
Foo Fights & Bar Brawls
RFC 3092 – Etymology of "Foo" (2001)
How 'foo' sparked a bar brawl: vets say FUBAR, pedants demand baz, Italians bring Disney
TLDR: RFC 3092 explains the origins of “foo” and “bar,” pointing to WWII slang and old cartoons. Comments ignite over the true meaning of FUBAR, nitpicks about “baz,” and global twists like Italy’s Disney placeholders—showing that even throwaway names can spark big cultural debates.
An old-school Internet memo from 2001 tries to settle where “foo” and “bar” came from—think WWII slang (FUBAR, a military phrase for a thing ruined beyond repair) and classic cartoons like Daffy Duck’s “SILENCE IS FOO!” It even nods to the usual placeholder list—foo, bar, baz—and Smokey Stover’s surreal fireman. But the comments? Pure drama.
Nostalgia floods in with “Echoes of ARPANET,” while pedants clutch pearls over “No mention of ‘baz’,” treating it like a constitutional crisis—even though the RFC does mention it. The spiciest fight: does FUBAR mean “beyond all repair” (as the memo claims) or “beyond all recognition”? A Marine-flavored “semper fidelis” lands, and suddenly it’s vets vs. RFC lore, with personal tales from Berkeley and legends like Eric Allman getting name-dropped. Co-author Eric Raymond’s presence adds extra open-source street cred.
Then the global crowd arrives with jokes: Italians don’t use foo or bar—they use the Disney trio “Pippo, Pluto, Paperino,” cue a meme wave of Donald Duck debugging and Italian wiki receipts. Just when you think it’s all April Fools fluff, a commenter drops an academic deep-dive on the cultural meaning of these words. Verdict: silly terms, serious feelings, and a comment section that turns placeholder names into a full-blown identity war.
Key Points
- •RFC 3092 is an informational memo clarifying definitions and origins of ‘foo,’ ‘bar,’ and ‘foobar.’
- •About 212 RFCs (≈7% at the time) used these terms without explanation; this document addresses that gap.
- •‘Foo’ and ‘bar’ are defined as metasyntactic variables; ‘foobar’ is a common combination, with a standard list including baz, qux, and others.
- •Etymology connects usage to WWII acronym FUBAR and earlier appearances in U.S. cartoons and comic strips.
- •The RFC includes an appendix listing occurrences in RFCs, plus security considerations, references, and authors’ addresses.