this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2026
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Hate to break it to you, but kiting was a thing before video games.
But yes that is also where I learned the concept.
So this post got me curious to the etymology of the term. And from what I've been able to discern, the term seems to in fact originate from gaming.
I mean, obviously the tactic pre-dates recorded history. But 'kiting', in regards to the term itself, doesn't seem to be a thing before video games.
It's funny because we seem to retroactively assign the term to ancient military tactics. I doubt they called it kiting. They'd probably call it ÖRGÛLŸK, and every Mongolian worth their salt would know how to perform flawless ÖRGÛLŸK.
Didn’t Larisa ÖRGÛLŸK play Alex Mack?
Yes in the latest iteration of The Odyssey!
and now they sell them to anyone at Ikea.
They’re delicious and cheap, I don’t care if they have horse meat in them.
The fighting Uruk-hai!
Yeah i wasnt trying to say that word kiting was old, but for sure the action is old. Im there are predator animals that do it with poison or exhausting their prey before going in for the kill.
No, for sure. It was clear what you meant.
Apologies if my comment came across as "um ackshually". I just meant it in a "TIL/interestingly enough" sorta way.
But it gained widespread knowledge worldwide as a tactic thanks to RTS.
Ask a kid what kiting is, and they won't refer to Genghis Khan.
...lol I'm trying to decide if you're informing me that kites predate video games, but also I find it hard to believe that you didn't know what a kite was until you played video games.
Kiting, a verb, not kite a noun. Kiting is the acting of moving away from an enemy while they chase you.
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.
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?
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.
This has got to be the dumbest thread I've ever been a part of lol
congratulations... I guess...
Lemmy, sometimes I just wanna.....makes strangling motion, you're a good kid.