Foobie

[Victor Steinbok]

There was a Foobie long before Furbie. Foobie D Robot has been around at
least since the early 1980s and became a part of anti-drug campaign in
the early 1990s. Given that Foobar became a common term among early PC
users (something about DOS just invited this--foo.bar) and, more
specifically, hackers, it is not much of a stretch to conclude that
Foobie D Robot was made as an extension of that particular use. Of
course, FUBAR goes back to WWII--along with FUBB (which, in the computer
circles, became Foobab), and the rest of the FU menagerie. OED and most
other sources have FUBAR back to January 1944 (not sure if two PQ hits
for 1943--one in Time--are accurate). Foobar's existence is nearly as
long--Foobar was commonly used by FORTRAN programmers even before PCs
were a possibility and "Foobar Inc" was a common reference among early
AI researchers. I found a GB hit for "Foobar" as "an intension ... to
represent the concept of dog" in a supposedly 1946 RAND paper, but I
very much doubt that the date tag is accurate--it seems to be just
another AI usage and the paper is likely from the 1990s. But it should
be noted that Foobar has /always/ been a joke use of FUBAR in technical
contexts. Foobar goes back to the mid-1970s for sure. It seems Foobie is
nearly as old.

[News and book searches on FUBAR and Foobie D. Robot are left as an
exercise to the reader.]

I doubt there is a connection between Foobie D Robot and Furbie--the
source of "fur" in Furbie is rather obvious. Not so for the Furbie
knock-off, Foobie. However, the Foobie pseudo-coinage, in this case,
likely exemplifies someone's particular brand of humor as applied to
Furbies.

Given the specific description in Doubletongued, the portmanteau origin
of that particular use of "foobies" is also rather obvious--"fake
boobies". This easily could have been an independent coinage, as it
follows a long list of similar constructs. On the other hand Foobies.com
is a part of Fark, and they make the "f-(b)oobies" connection rather
obvious--just go to the page.

Foobie D Robot is another matter.

There is the Blade Agency Foobie ...er... FUBAR:

http://bit.ly/akIK4M
> Foobie D. Robot
> The Futuristic Uranium Bio-Atomic Robot (FUBAR) is an android that
> will never fail to make a big impression on your audience at trade
> shows, conventions, sales meetings, and receptions. His wacky wit and
> user-friendly personality is the perfect vehicle to put your
> promotional ideas into orbit.

[Other agencies seem to claim FUBAR as their own. No need to list them
all here.]

One may doubt, I suppose, the odd appearance of both Foobie and FUBAR
names on the same page, but don't fret--the connection is well
established. Consider Foobie to be an endearing nickname for FUBAR. And
if there is any doubt about the origin, consider this (only reproducing
a part of the text--see the rest on the page).

http://bit.ly/d865Bl

> FUBAR D. Robot
> Welcome to my home page!
> It's under construction now, but I anticipate many bizarre photo links
> in the near future.  Please note that any mistakes here are 100% due
> to human error.
> In the meantime, you can check out sloooooow loading page at GeoCities
> with some celebrity pix.  Yep, that's me with Tori Spelling, The Fonz,
> Rick Schroeder, Don King and more!
> http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Club/1999/
> With best regards,
> Foobie
>
> _Personal Data_
>
> Aliases : FUBAR (Futuristic Uranium Bio Atomic Robot), Charmer in Armor,
> Ol' Red Eyes, Robot Redford, the Bucket of Bolts
> ...
> _Little Known Foobie Facts_
>
> 1979 - FUBAR first appeared at Wyoming Valley Mall in Wilkes Barre,
> PA. on February 17, 1979.  He claimed to have come to Earth from the
> planet Cragzot in the star system of Betelgeuse where he allegedly
> "built himself".  His story is unconfirmed to this day.
>
> 1979 - In December, FUBAR aka Foobie became the first robotic
> Presidential Candidate when he held a press conference at the National
> Press Building in Washington DC.  AP and UPI wire stories were
> published by newspapers around the world.  FUBAR mysteriously withdrew
> from the race in early November 1980. FUBAR stated he was "leaving the
> race to the other three robots", not to mention leaving millions of
> voters undecided on the eve of the election.
>
> 1980 - On July 14, FUBAR D. Robot became the first and only robot to
> gain membership in AFTRA (the American Federation of Television and
> Radio Actors).  To our knowledge, no other robot has received this
> honor to this day. Note: Other robots like C3PO and R2D2 are not union
> members - only the human actors that operate them are!
>
> 1983-84 - FUBAR signs an exclusive contract with the William Morris
> Agency to appear on NBC's hit sitcom, Silver Spoons, with Ricky
> Schroeder.
>
> 1983 - A year of scandal for FUBAR in Hollywood.  In June, the
> National Enquirer runs a photo of him with Hugh Hefner's former wife
> Barbie Benton on his knee.  That same week, Star runs a photo of him
> with Donna Mills on his knee.   Shortly thereafter, Brandon Tartikoff
> directs FUBAR to officially change his name to Foobie following a
> short lesson in Archaic Military Acronyms from a friend.
>
> 1985 - Foobie left his acting career to devote his efforts to the
> field of education and public service.  He continues his work today,
> constantly making personal appearances throughout the US.
>
> E-MAIL Foobie!
> Foobie loves to get mail .

Numerous news stories confirm the 1985 bit.

Siemens Science Day page has the same reference (and the Blade Agency
image):

http://bit.ly/c1G3eH
> Meet and interact with Foobie, Gizmo and the robotics of the future at
> Siemens Science Day. The Futuristic Uranium Bio-Atomic Robot (FUBAR)
> is mobile, agile, informative and not to mention fun!

Foobie D. Robot has always been fake--it was never an actual robot. But
I doubt it is even necessary to connect him directly to the model RR
use. The FUBAR reference to "fake" cars and engines would be solid in
its own right. These are the models that have been FUBARed. Since they
are diminutive, might as well call them foobies. Whether you believe the
connection between early computer hackers, Foobie D Robot and model RR
foobies is up to you. But I have little doubt that they do share the
connection to FUBAR--the former two are well documented and it's not
much of stretch to see it in the third.

Then, there is the Foobie Jesus video by Katharine Leis (i-katharine.com).

http://bit.ly/9Nd4VI

Again, even though Foobie is the name given to the cat here, the origin
is likely the same (if you doubt it, feel free to contact Ms. Leis,
whose sense of humor appears to be just in the right ballpark).

I would not be surprised if "Foobie Jesus" [appropriately] becomes the
term for all "miraculous" Jesus images reported in various incarnations.
I would personally encourage it.

     VS-)

On 3/5/2010 11:55 AM, Garson O'Toole wrote:
> The Furby is an interactive toy robot with fur that was launched in
> 1998. Several knockoff toys were created, e.g., furbish, ooglies,
> dubby. Below is a link to a webpage that displays several of the
> imitations including one called foobie. The name is visible on the
> packaging box.
>
> http://furbaholic.homestead.com/wannabes.html
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furby
>
> This instance of foobie may have influenced the use of foobie within
> the model railroading community. I do not know when the furby-style
> foobie was created.
>
> The Doubletounged dictionary website has a catch for foobie dated Dec.
> 19, 2007 as "a term for fake boobies". The Urban Dictionary entry that
> you noted is dated Jun 12, 2006.
>
> http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/citations/foobie_1/
>
> Garson
>
> On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 2:23 AM, Peter McGraw
> <mrlanguageperson at verizon.net>  wrote:
>
>> I'm writing to the list with some trepidation,=A0because my previous posts =
>> since I switched to my home e-mail have come through contaminated with lots=
>>   of garbage.=A0 My apologies in advance if that happens again.=0A=A0=0AJust=
>>   in case this comes through in intelligible form...=0A=A0=0AMy other vice b=
>> esides language is model railroading.=A0 In the service of this vice, I sub=
>> scribe to the e-mail list of the Rock Island Technical Society.=A0 There I =
>> have come across a word I had never heard before and did not find in any of=
>>   the likely dictionaries I consulted.=0A=A0=0AThe word is "foobie," and wha=
>> t it means for those who used it on the RI list=A0is an inauthentic model.=
>> =A0 A manufacturer produces a "foobie" by, e.g., making an accurate model o=
>> f an engine used by the Pennsylvania Railroad and simply painting the same =
>> model in Rock Island livery, even though the Rock Island prototype differed=
>>   in significant ways from the version used by the PR.=A0 It's a common prac=
>> tice (though many manufacturers are now making an effort to be truer to pro=
>> totype), so there are a lot of foobies out there, but I had never heard the=
>>   word before last week.=A0 Here are two quotes from messages to the RI list=
>> :=0A=A0=0AThe first=A0came=A0in=A0a discussion of a "fantasy" model=A0of an=
>>   engine=A0soon to be=A0released "just for fun" by a manufacturer (Athearn)=
>> =A0in=A0the=A0livery of the RI and several other "fallen flags," even thoug=
>> h that engine didn't exist yet when the respective prototype railroads eith=
>> er shut down or were absorbed by other roads.=A0 Some modelers=A0like an oc=
>> casional=A0"what if" model like this, but others=A0wouldn't have one on the=
>> ir layout, including the author of this sarcastic comment:=A0=A0"Just put s=
>> ome Intermountain RI cars behind it and you've got a complete foobie train.=
>> "=A0 The thread went on to discuss the many flaws in the authenticity of th=
>> e models produced by Intermountain.=0A=A0=0ALater on in the discussion of I=
>> ntermountain, somebody wrote:=A0 "The PS2CD 4750's in the blue Did have the=
>>   wrong car series....If you decide to change the number series with decals,=
>>   they would be ok for the USRE built clones (I think they have the USRE sym=
>> bol on the right side of the car), and all their reruns=A0I think still use=
>>   this car number series from the grey ptd car series. That's a 'fixable foo=
>> bie', I guess. But you'd think they would have got it by now."=0A=A0=0AI qu=
>> eried the list=A0about where and when people had first encountered the word=
>>   and where it might have come from, to which someone answered: "RR guys hav=
>> e co-opted this term, but it is part of the urban dictionary....I first sta=
>> rted seeing it on the Steam Era Freight Car list (STMFC) with a RR twist."=
>> =A0 He said he=A0thought he had first encountered it in the model=A0railroa=
>> d=A0context "a=A0few months ago."=A0 =0A=A0=0AThe entry in the Urban Dictio=
>> nary (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=3DFoobie) that's the m=
>> ost plausible source of the model railroad use is: "Foobie, a compound word=
>>   made up of fake, and boobies. To describe not only those wondrous silicon =
>> orbs that seem to abound everywhere these days, but any variety of artifici=
>> ally enhanced hooters. =0A"'Duuude...check out those boobies.' =0A"'Yeah...=
>> total foobies.'"=0A=A0=0AI don't know anything about the Urban Dictionary, =
>> so I don't know whether it's any kind of evidence for actual usage as oppos=
>> ed to self-conscious nonce creations, but clearly the word is in actual use=
>>   at least by a few model railroaders, among whom it has caught on because i=
>> t fills a lexical gap that was a concept=A0in search=A0of=A0a word.=0A=A0=
>> =0AHas anyone else encountered "foobie" somewhere?=0A=A0=0APeter McGraw

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