Wow!  Talk about a wandering thread.

The original query concerned the origin of the term "foobie" to describe something "non-prototype".

Two members advanced the theory, without any tangible evidence, that "foobie" is somehow derived from FUBAR, a widely understood acronym that has been around for something like 75 years.

Bruce Smith and I basically said, not so fast.  Non-functioning links to the Urban Dictionary aside, a 10-second search with Google for "foobie definition" yields only one solid result:  a contraction of fake and boobie (i.e., augmented breasts).

This definition makes perfect sense in the context of the original query.  A foobie is attractive, appealing because it seems to be authentic.  But it's not.  It's fake, false, faux.  Sometimes subtly, other times more obviously.  But it is not FUBAR, unless it is a particularly egregious foobie

The only connection that I can find between foobie and FUBAR is that computer nerds occasionally use the former as shorthand for an audio program called foobar2000 or foobar2k (description can be found in Wikipedia).

With luck, maybe we can terminate this thread soon.

Dave Parker
Riverside, CA