from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
FUBAR
1. (WWII military slang) Fucked up beyond all
recognition (or repair).
See {foobar}.
2. <hardware> The Failed UniBus Address Register in a
{VAX}. A good example of how jargon can occasionally be snuck
past the {suits}.
Larry Robinson <[email protected]> reports the following
nonstandard use for FUBAR:
One day somebody got mad at the {card reader} (or card eater
that day) on our {Univac 3200}. He taped a sign, "This thing
is FUBAR", on the metal weight that sits on the stack of
unread cards. The sign stayed there for over a year. One
day, somebody said, "Don't forget to put the fubar on top of
the stack". It stuck! We called that weight the fubar until
they took away the machine. The replacement card reader had
two spring loaded card clamps, one for the feed and one for
the return, and we called THOSE fubars until we dumped punch
cards.
Incidently, the way he taped the sign on the weight made up
for the lack of a little nylon piece that was missing from it,
and fixed the card reader. That's why the sign stayed there.
[{Jargon File}]
(1997-03-18)