Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

> NVIDIAs moat

Offtopic, but your comment finally pushed me over the edge to semantic satiation [1] regarding the word "moat". It is incredible how this word turned up a short while ago and now it seems to be a key ingredient of every second comment.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_satiation




It is incredible how this word turned up a short while ago…

I’m sure if I looked, I could find quotes from Warren Buffet (the recognized originator of the term) going back a few decades. But your point stands.


The earliest occurrence of the word "moat" that I could find online from Buffett is from 1986: https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1986.html That shareholder letter is charmingly old-school.

Unfortunately letters before 1977 weren't available online so I wasn't able to search.

It also helps that I've been to several cities with an actual moat so this word is familiar to me.


Yeah, he's been talking about "economic moats" since at least the 1990s. At least since 1995;

https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1995.html


Nobody claimed it's a new word. Still, the frequency increased 100x over the last days, subjectively speaking.


The word moat was first used in english in the 15th century https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moat


Yes my wording was rubbish I should have said "tuned up" in the HN bubble. Quick ctrl-f shows 35 uses in this thread without loading all comments.

I did not mean that it was literally invented a short while ago - a few months ago I had to look up what it means though (not native English).



I'm struggling to understand how a moat can have a CRACK in it.


perhaps if the moat is kept in place by some sort of berm or quay




Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: