the.com/forerunner
The one who takes the arrows so later versions get the applause.
means A person or thing that comes before and paves the way for what follows, often an early or primitive version of something that later develops more fully.
from Built in Old English from 'fore-' (before) plus 'runner' — literally someone who ran ahead, as a herald or scout sent in advance of a king's arrival to announce that the main party was coming. The literal legs eventually fell away, leaving the sense of anything that precedes and signals what's behind it.
- etymology
- literally one who runs ahead, 14th century
- credit paradox
- rarely remembered, always cited as inspiration
- biblical use
- john the baptist was called christ's forerunner
- tech irony
- often outsold by the thing it predicted