the.com/discord
A chat app for gamers that quietly became the internet's new town square.
means A lack of harmony or agreement — the friction that happens when voices clash instead of blend.
from From Latin discordia, built from dis- (apart) plus cor, cordis (heart) — so the literal image is hearts pulled apart, out of sync with one another. It traveled through Old French descord into English by the 1300s, always carrying that sense of hearts or voices failing to beat together.
- original purpose
- Built in 2015 just for voice chat during gaming
- scale now
- Hosts fan clubs, startups, and homework groups alike
- server structure
- Channels mimic Slack, but nobody calls it work
- etymology joke
- Named for turning gamer chaos into something harmonious