[1] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

metasyntactic variable n. a name used in examples and understood to
   stand for whatever thing is under discussion, or any random member of a
   class of things under discussion. the word foo is the canonical
   example. to avoid confusion, hackers never well, hardly ever use `foo'
   or other words like it as permanent names for anything. in filenames, a
   common convention is that any filename beginning with a
   metasyntactic-variable name is a scratch file that may be deleted at
   any time.

   metasyntactic variables are so called because 1 they are variables
   in the metalanguage used to talk about programs etc; 2 they are
   variables whose values are often variables as in usages like "the value
   of ffoo,bar is the sum of foo and bar". however, it has been
   plausibly suggested that the real reason for the term "metasyntactic
   variable" is that it sounds good.

   to some extent, the list of one's preferred metasyntactic variables is
   a cultural signature. they occur both in series used for related groups
   of variables or objects and as singletons. here are a few common
   signatures:

 foo, bar, baz, quux, quuux, quuuux...:
       mit/stanford usage, now found everywhere thanks largely to
       early versions of this lexicon.  at mit but not at
       stanford, baz dropped out of use for a while in the 1970s
       and '80s. a common recent mutation of this sequence inserts
       qux before quux.
  
 bazola, ztesch:
       stanford from mid-'70s on.
  
 foo, bar, thud, grunt:
       this series was popular at cmu.  other cmu-associated
       variables include gorp.
  
 foo, bar, bletch:
       waterloo university.  we are informed that the cs club at
       waterloo formerly had a sign on its door reading  "ye olde
       foo bar and grill"; this led to an attempt to establish
       "grill" as the third metasyntactic variable, but it never
       caught on.
  
 foo, bar, fum:
       this series is reported to be common at xerox parc.
  
 fred, jim, sheila, barney:
       see the entry for fred.  these tend to be britishisms.
  
 corge, grault, flarp:
       popular at rutgers university and among gosmacs hackers.
  
 zxc, spqr, wombat:
       cambridge university england.
  
 shme
       berkeley, geoworks, ingres.  pronounced /shme/ with a short
       /e/.
  
 foo, bar, baz, bongo
       yale, late 1970s.
  
 spam, eggs
       python programmers.
  
 snork
       brown university, early 1970s.
  
 foo, bar, zot
       helsinki university of technology, finland.
  
 blarg, wibble
       new zealand.
  
 toto, titi, tata, tutu
       france.
  
 pippo, pluto, paperino
       italy.  pippo /pee'po/ and paperino /pa-per-ee'-no/ are the
       italian names for goofy and donald duck.
  
 aap, noot, mies
       the netherlands.  these are the first words a child used to
       learn to spell on a dutch spelling board.
  
 oogle, foogle, boogle; zork, gork, bork
       these two series which may be continued with other initial
       consonents are reportedly common in england, and said to go
       back to lewis carroll.
  
   of all these, only `foo' and `bar' are universal and baz nearly
   so. the compounds foobar and `foobaz' also enjoy very wide currency.

   some jargon terms are also used as metasyntactic names; barf and
   mumble, for example. see also commonwealth hackish for discussion
   of numerous metasyntactic variables found in great britain and the
   commonwealth.


see also:
foo canonical scratch bar baz quux 
qux gorp fred barney corge 
grault flarp gosmacs python foobar 
barf mumble commonwealth hackish 

[2] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

metasyntactic variable
     
         strictly, a variable used in metasyntax, but
        often used for any name used in examples and understood to
        stand for whatever thing is under discussion, or any random
        member of a class of things under discussion.  the word foo
        is the canonical example.  to avoid confusion, hackers never
        well, hardly ever use "foo" or other words like it as
        permanent names for anything.
     
        in filenames, a common convention is that any filename
        beginning with a metasyntactic-variable name is a scratch
        file that may be deleted at any time.
     
        to some extent, the list of one's preferred metasyntactic
        variables is a cultural signature.  they occur both in series
        used for related groups of variables or objects and as
        singletons.  here are a few common signatures:
     
        foo, bar, baz, quux, quuux, quuuux...: mit/stanford
        usage, now found everywhere.  at mit but not at stanford,
        baz dropped out of use for a while in the 1970s and '80s.  a
        common recent mutation of this sequence inserts qux before
        quux.
     
        bazola, ztesch: stanford from mid-'70s on.
     
        foo, bar, thud, grunt: this series was popular at cmu.
        other cmu-associated variables include ack, barf, foo, and
        gorp.
     
        foo, bar, fum: this series is reported to be common at
        xerox parc.
     
        fred, barney: see the entry for fred.  these tend to be
        britishisms.
     
        toto, titi, tata, tutu: standard series of metasyntactic
        variables among francophones.
     
        corge, grault, flarp: popular at rutgers university and
        among gosmacs hackers.
     
        zxc, spqr, wombat: cambridge university england.
     
        shme: berkeley, geoworks, ingres.  pronounced /shme/ with a
        short /e/.
     
        foo, bar, zot: helsinki university of technology,
        finland.
     
        blarg, wibble: new zealand
     
        of all these, only "foo" and "bar" are universal and baz
        nearly so.  the compounds foobar and "foobaz" also enjoy
        very wide currency.
     
        some jargon terms are also used as metasyntactic names; barf
        and mumble, for example.
     
        see also commonwealth hackish for discussion of numerous
        metasyntactic variables found in great britain and the
        commonwealth.
     
        jargon file
     
        1995-11-13
     
     
see also:
variable metasyntax foo canonical scratch bar 
baz quux qux gorp xerox parc 
fred barney toto corge grault 
flarp gosmacs wombat helsinki university of technology foobar 
barf mumble commonwealth hackish jargon file 

Variable >> V Words
Variable, definition of term: Variable
variable_pag1.html

Variable Resist >> V Words
Variable Resist, definition of term: Variable Resist
variable+resist_pag1.html

Metasyntactic V >> M Words
Metasyntactic V, definition of term: Metasyntactic V
metasyntactic+v_pag1.html