quux
/kwuhks/ [Mythically, from the Latin semi-deponent verb
quuxo, quuxare, quuxandum iri; noun form variously `quux' (plural
`quuces', anglicized to `quuxes') and `quuxu' (genitive
plural is `quuxuum', for four u-letters out of seven in all,
using up all the `u' letters in Scrabble).] 1. Originally, a
metasyntactic variable like
foo and
foobar.
Invented by Guy Steele for precisely this purpose when he was young
and na"ive and not yet interacting with the real computing
community. Many people invent such words; this one seems simply to
have been lucky enough to have spread a little. In an eloquent
display of poetic justice, it has returned to the originator in the
form of a nickname. 2. interj. See
foo; however, denotes very
little disgust, and is uttered mostly for the sake of the sound of
it. 3. Guy Steele in his persona as `The Great Quux', which is
somewhat infamous for light verse and for the `Crunchly' cartoons.
4. In some circles, quux is used as a punning opposite of `crux'.
"Ah, that's the quux of the matter!" implies that the point is
*not* crucial (compare
tip of the ice-cube). 5. quuxy
adj. Of or pertaining to a quux.
