lurk

"lurk" is also a: user

created by Stargazer

(idea) by Stargazer (?) (print) ? (I like it!) Sat Nov 13 1999 at 9:55:39

In any online forum, the act of being an active reader, but not much of a speaker. Contrast the Real World equivalent synonymous with hiding.

(idea) by NaNaKat (3.5 y) (print) ? (I like it!) Wed May 03 2000 at 23:37:22

Rather than 'hiding' irl, I think it would be better to associate it with eavesdropping. There are various methods of lurking. Specifically to IRC, you can lurk off channel or on channel. Using the +i mode, you can be invisible to all but server operators while you sit in *, which means to say you'll not have joined any channel. Nobody will be aware of your presence online unless you specifically chatted to them. In this way you avoid most online friends but chat only to the ones you really want to chat to. To lurk on channel is much less surreptitious, since you can be seen, but you remain quiet and maybe say hello in greeting back somebody who greets you on the channel.

You can also do it in ICQ by changing to Private status, or even lurk for a while on E2 before your nick is shown in the Other Users box. Heck, you can lurk pretty much on any online chat system on which the status of members or users can be viewed and/or hidden.

(definition) by Webster 1913 (print) Wed Dec 22 1999 at 0:58:51

Lurk (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Lurked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Lurking.] [OE. lurken, lorken, prob. a dim. from the source of E. lower to frown. See Lower, and cf. Lurch, a sudden roll, Lurch to lurk.]

To lie hid; to lie in wait.

Like wild beasts, lurking in loathsome den. Spenser.

Let us . . . lurk privily for the innocent. Prov. i. 11.

To keep out of sight.

The defendant lurks and wanders about in Berks. Blackstone.

printable version
chaos

lurker	How to get mugged	eavesdropping	What is Everything2, you?
Assassin's Creed	4chan	Everything2	Level 1
Rules for trading pictures on the Internet	Ice cream cone	Rules of the Internet as Accords Anonymous	UL
Intelligence Quotient	John Adams's 1800 State of the Union Address	United States Military Bugle Calls	#everything
George Washington's 1792 State of the Union Address	Everything2 is a community	Val Lewton	Acronym
Immunization	What Would Jackie Chan Do?	Game of Death	resistance

Y'know, if you log in, you can write something here, or contact authors directly on the site. Create a New User if you don't already have an account.

Login
Password

remember me
password reminder
register

Everything2 Help

Nodes your sibling would have liked:
New Musical Express
And you as well must die, beloved dust,
So you think you're Bruce Lee
Hadrian's Wall
Pantoum
Saint John's wort
An Intelligent Woman
Aquatic Ape Theory
You are going to need to get a big princess type dress. I CANNOT fight for the honor of someone wearing cowgirl pjs
Napoleon Bonaparte
Hidden Markov Model
oyako donburi
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Cuckowski
Slavonic Princess	(poetry)
Heitah
Posthumous Oscar	(thing)
ignis_glaciesque
University of South Florida	(place)
ignis_glaciesque
Flogstaskriket	(idea)
liveforever
Caesar's last breath	(idea)
dagnyswaggart
she wants to believe	(personal)
antigravpussy
he doesn't know, but her eyes widen too far	(thing)
dagnyswaggart
Wild tides guard her secrets	(poetry)
Lord Brawl
Caesar's last breath	(poetry)
locke baron
Forgotten things in space	(fiction)
sitaraika
Colours	(idea)
etouffee
Wild tides guard her secrets	(poetry)
Lord Brawl
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog	(review)
a8ksh4
regret	(idea)
Heisenberg
Editor Log: July 2008	(log)

Everything 2 is brought to you by the letter C and The Everything Development Company