quux

/kwuhks/ [Mythically, from the Latin semi-deponent verb quuxo,

quuxare, quuxandum iri; noun form variously "quux" (plural

"quuces", anglicised 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

naive 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. 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, 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).

[Jargon File]