Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderI've always wondered about this. Also: I pronounce "daemon" as "DAY-mun," as opposed to "demon", which I pronounce "DEE-mun." Do the rest of you make this distinction?
A bit more about the etymology: δαίμων (daimon) in ancient greek is simply a god, or a divine spirit [1]. It appears earliest in the Iliad (1.222), and is probably related to the the root da: "from PIE dai-mon- "divider, provider" (of fortunes or destinies), from root *da- "to divide."[2]. Classical Latin trascribed it as daemon, because "ae" was pronounced "ai". Some years had passed, and Latin-speakers stated saying "e" instaed of "ai"[3], and writing "demon". English, as was mention…
Socrates did not originate the word, his usage is the most famous we have historically available. The Greeks believed in good spirits helping people ("Eudaemon") and evil spirits for darker purposes ("cacodaemon")[1]. It was believed that people had these spirits helping or harming them as the case may be. The same goes for "genius", a spirit from whom we get the words genie as well as "Djinn". The common usage was that (quoted by Elizabeth Gilbert) a great person "had…
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 416
- Total comments
- 115
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-06-24 | The Origin of the word DaemonFirst breakout · Best thread | Void_ | 215 | 45 |
| 2018-02-03 | The Origin of the word Daemon (2002) | trueduke | 148 | 46 |
| 2020-01-29 | The Origin of the Word 'Daemon' | sadjad | 1 | 0 |
| 2023-03-23 | The Origin of the Word Daemon (2002)Latest 20+ point return | susam | 50 | 24 |
| 2026-01-12 | The Origin of the Word Daemon | vitaelabitur | 2 | 0 |