5 ms·

It's amazing how I'd never heard the word "spelunk" before today, and now in the span of the last few hours, I've heard it multiple times in three different con

It's amazing how I'd never heard the word "spelunk" before today, and now in the span of the last few hours, I've heard it multiple times in three different contexts.

throwwwaway69 4y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion#Working_Memory_and_Frequency_Illusions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion#Working_Mem...
wnolens 4y ago
It's the word I use for exploring unfamiliar (and potentially scary) parts of a codebase
reactordev 4y ago
I take it you don’t play video games either. Spelunky was a pretty popular Indy game back in the day. Named after, you guessed it, spelunking. I first learned the word from “Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego” back in the 90s. I had to ask my parents what it meant.
- luizs 4y ago
  There's also an old NES game called Spelunker.
  - gabereiser 4y ago
    Yes but my experience with WITWICS predates the NES for me.
  - phamilton 4y ago
    This comic is my first memory of the word https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/08/07 https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/08/07
airstrike 4y ago
First time I heard it in English! Your comment made me want to dig deeper... It looks like it comes from the Latin "spelunca", meaning "cave" Curiously, in Portuguese we have "espelunca" which is more commonly used as a synonym for a seedy, shady place -- and now I know why!
- lrhegeba 4y ago
  in german "Spelunke" is used for a seedy, shady bar
  - cstrahan 4y ago
    And another fun bit of trivia: in the animated series “The Seven Deadly Sins”, one of the characters owns and operates a somewhat suspicious bar in a remote mountain cave. Seems there may be a cross-culture notion of caves and sketchy bars having similar level of… ah, “shadiness”. Makes some sense, as I’m typing this out. The dark is where (both literally and figuratively) shady things go down, and it’s hard to get much darker than a cave, so “Spelunke” seems a fitting name.
  - Jaksla92 4y ago
    Same case for "spelunka" in polish
davideg 4y ago
Have you heard of the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion
- arrow7000 4y ago
  No, but now I'm seeing it everywhere!

It's amazing how I'd never heard the word "spelunk" before today, and now in the span of the last few hours, I've heard it multiple times in three different contexts.

throwwwaway69 4y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion#Working_Memory_and_Frequency_Illusions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion#Working_Mem...

wnolens 4y ago

It's the word I use for exploring unfamiliar (and potentially scary) parts of a codebase

reactordev 4y ago

I take it you don’t play video games either. Spelunky was a pretty popular Indy game back in the day. Named after, you guessed it, spelunking. I first learned the word from “Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego” back in the 90s. I had to ask my parents what it meant.

luizs 4y ago
There's also an old NES game called Spelunker.
- gabereiser 4y ago
  Yes but my experience with WITWICS predates the NES for me.
- phamilton 4y ago
  This comic is my first memory of the word https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/08/07 https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/08/07

airstrike 4y ago

First time I heard it in English! Your comment made me want to dig deeper... It looks like it comes from the Latin "spelunca", meaning "cave" Curiously, in Portuguese we have "espelunca" which is more commonly used as a synonym for a seedy, shady place -- and now I know why!

lrhegeba 4y ago
in german "Spelunke" is used for a seedy, shady bar
- cstrahan 4y ago
  And another fun bit of trivia: in the animated series “The Seven Deadly Sins”, one of the characters owns and operates a somewhat suspicious bar in a remote mountain cave. Seems there may be a cross-culture notion of caves and sketchy bars having similar level of… ah, “shadiness”. Makes some sense, as I’m typing this out. The dark is where (both literally and figuratively) shady things go down, and it’s hard to get much darker than a cave, so “Spelunke” seems a fitting name.
- Jaksla92 4y ago
  Same case for "spelunka" in polish

davideg 4y ago

Have you heard of the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_illusion

arrow7000 4y ago
No, but now I'm seeing it everywhere!