The term foobar is a common placeholder name also referred to as metasyntactic variable used in computer programming or computer related documentation. The word "foobar" may be derived from the WW II era Army slang acronym FUBAR (`Fucked Up Beyond All Repair'), later modified to foobar and carried back by returning GIs to morph into other uses. In technology, the word was probably originally propagated through DEC system manuals by Digital Equipment Corporation or DEC in 1960s and early 1970s. Another possibility is that foobar evolved from electronics, as an inverted foo signal. This is because if a digital signal is active low (so a negative or zero-voltage condition represents a "1") then a horizontal bar is commonly placed over the signal label. The Jargon File makes a case that foo possibly predates fubar.[LINK: http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/F/foobar.html] The Jargon File. Examples

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