Dunking
Etymology
Borrowed from basketball’s emphatic slam dunk, the term spread on 2010s Twitter alongside the quote-tweet, which made it effortless to hoist a stranger’s words in front of a friendly crowd. “The dunk tank” became shorthand for a timeline addicted to it. The sport metaphor captures the point: it is a spectacle move, scored by the crowd.
noun · /DUNK-ing/
Publicly mocking someone’s post by quoting it to your own audience for easy applause.
What it names
Performance ridicule — humiliation staged for one’s followers rather than the target.
Example
Instead of replying privately, she quote-tweeted the typo to her 200,000 followers — a pure dunk.
Related idea
A dunk seeks applause from your own side, whereas a ratio is the crowd’s verdict, measured when replies bury the original post.
verb · /DUNK-ing/
To dip food briefly into a liquid, or to plunge something into water.
What it names
dipping food or an object into liquid
Example
He sat dunking biscuits in his tea until they went soft.
Related idea
It is a small ritual of comfort food — the dunk is half the pleasure of the biscuit.
verb · /DUNK-ing/
In basketball, to score by thrusting the ball down through the hoop from above.
What it names
a slam dunk
Example
She rose clean above the defender and dunked over him.
Related idea
The online sense of dunking on someone borrows this exact image of a triumphant slam — a bid to publicly pwn an opponent.
See also