: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 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. 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, 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.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary
