UI

  • Habahnow@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    Kiting, a verb, not kite a noun. Kiting is the acting of moving away from an enemy while they chase you.

    • BillyClark@piefed.social
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      2 days ago

      I looked up the etymology on “kite”, and it’s quite interesting. Apparently, its original use was to describe a hawk whose call sounds kind of like “kite”. Then it was used more generally to describe all birds in that family.

      The kite toy was named after the bird, because the bird tended to try to sit on some wind while hunting, so it was basically hovering like a toy kite.

      The action of leading an enemy around is named after the toy kite, because a kite in flight is always the length of the string away from the person flying the kite. So, like if you tried to run from the kite, it would always be the same distance away chasing you. You’re leading the kite around on a string. And so you would kite an enemy in the same sense.

      • teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
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        1 day ago

        So wait…I was joking, but you’re literally saying that “kiting” before video games is just from actual kites. Lol like no shit, why did I get downvoted?

        • __Lost__@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 day ago

          Because the term is from video games, meaning to lead an enemy around as if they were a kite that you are holding. Nobody is saying kites are older. And yes, you can say “let’s go kiting” and mean playing with toy kites in a field, but that is not the definition of the word that is being discussed here. The guy kited the cop in the way that your marine would kite a zergling, not the way a kid would fly a kite at the park.