metasyntactic variable
<grammar> 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) | ||||
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Metasyntactic variable Definition from Computer & Internet Dictionaries & Glossaries
| Jargon File |
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.
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 usages like "the value of f(foo,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 earlyversions of this lexicon!). At MIT (but not at Stanford), bazdropped out of use for a while in the 1970s and '80s. A commonrecent 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 variablesinclude gorp.
- 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
- 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 spellon a Dutch spelling board.
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.
Metasyntactic variable Definition from Language, Idioms & Slang Dictionaries & Glossaries
| hEnglish - advanced version |
metasyntactic variable
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.
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.
Metasyntactic variable Definition from Encyclopedia Dictionaries & Glossaries
| Wikipedia English - The Free Encyclopedia |
Metasyntactic variable
A metasyntactic variable is a placeholder name, or an alias term, commonly used to denote the subject matter under discussion, or an arbitrary member of a class of things under discussion. The term originates from computer programming and other technical contexts, and is commonly used in examples by hackers and programmers. The use of a metasyntactic variable is helpful in freeing a programmer from creating a logically named variable, although the invented term may also become sufficiently popular and enter the language as a neologism. The word foo is the canonical example.
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