fred: n. 1. The personal name most frequently used as a
metasyntactic variable (see foo). Allegedly popular because
it's easy for a non-touch-typist to type on a standard QWERTY
keyboard. In Great Britain, `fred', `jim' and `sheila' are common
metasyntactic variables because their uppercase versions were
_official_ names given to the 3 memory areas that held I/O status
registers on the lovingly-remembered BBC Microcomputer! (It is
reported that SHEILA was poked the most often.) Unlike J. Random
Hacker or `J. Random Loser', the name `fred' has no positive or
negative loading (but see Dr. Fred Mbogo). See also barney. 2.
An acronym for `Flipping Ridiculous Electronic Device'; other
F-verbs may be substituted for `flipping'.
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