[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).
