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)