I keep running into references to this word everywhere, including on this board. I gather it has something to do with either the Illuminati or Discordianism (or both), but what does it mean exactly? I tried doing a search for it on Google but couldn’t find a page that had a definition of it, just a bunch of pages that had the word on it. Is “fnord” an acronym for something?
It was made up by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea for their book “Illuminatus”
From dictionary.com:
“Fnord” is af wordn thato the rIlluminatid has conditioned us to respond to with fear and anxiety. As part of the hypnotic conditioning, we are also unable to see the word when it appears in print. (“If you can’t see it, it can’t eat you.”)
The purpose of this is to introduce a control mechanism. Newspaper stories about things that the Illuminati would rather we don’t think too much about have interstitial “fnords” inserted into the text. This makes the unwashed feel vaguely uneasy and disinclined to pay too much attention to the story, skipping past it to the next comforting story about a pop star’s infidelities or somesuch.
Once you are aware of the fnords, it gradually becomes easier and easier to see them.
previews Golly, there are a lot of Erisian types about today. 
Sorry I don’t understand the OP. What do you mean by
What does " " mean ?
I do’t know why but such stoopid questions make me very agitated.
What does what mean? What did you mean to type between those quotes?
Thanks for posting that. For years I’ve tried to explain the fnord to friends and been forced to try to sum up that page of the book. It never occured to me that RAW would have posted it to his website. This will make it easier…
Youfnordpeoplefnordarefnordcrazyfnord.fnordAllfnordthesefnordblankfnordspotsfnordinfnordyourfnordpostsfnord.fnord
Peoplefnordrespondingfnordlikefnordtheyfnordknowfnordwhatfnordsomeonefnordelsefnordisfnordtalkingfnordabout.
Ifnorddon’tfnordgetfnorditfnordatfnordallfnord.
Fnord is the flavor of inner-tube air.
Fnord is the reason the rest of the world puts a “u” in color and flavor.
Fnord is the organ in your body that absorbs un-passed farts.
Fnord generates the snow found on empty TV channels.
Fnord is the name of the guy on the other end of the elevator’s emergency phone.
Fnord particles go faster than light, and you can measure both their position and direction.
Unca Cece lives on Fnord Boulevard.
Fnord is the sound siamese twin elephants make when they are joined at the trunk.
This is absolute honesty here. I just came from the CS thread on horror scenes and really got into the creepiness of ghosts and goblins and shit. Then I come here and think I have little ghots in my monitor before noticing it was your subtle coding.
Hell, maybe it does work after all. :eek:
It’s all in your head.
The Perfect Master speaks. The article is more about Illuminatism (is that a word?) in general, but fnord does make a (non-)appearance toward the end.
Oh, but you do! The ghots exist in between dots. There are dots in three colors: red, green, and blue. There are ghots in only one color: fnord.
Fnord counts all the ballots.
No that’s “fnork”
Awesome reference, tho.
Fnord is where God stores souls before plugging them into babies.
Fnord is the only part of the buffalo the Indians don’t use.
Fnord=(0/0)^0
Fnord is the uneasy equilibrium between a humidifier and a de-humidifier fighting it out.
Fnord is how the missing socks in the dryer transform into extra coat hangers in the closet.
Fnord is Vegan Spam.
I think I’ve read to much Illuminatus!, and played to much SJ Illuminati…
Because Tucker and Larry, your posts seriously gave me the heebie-jeebies.
:eek: :shudder:
When I’ve finished university and actually get a job as a journalist where my article gets printed, (rather then just marked by a tutor) I want to write “fnord” into one of my articles and see if I can get it printed.
That would be cool.