Donkey Kong

Definition

A 1981 arcade game where players control a carpenter named Mario navigating platforms and obstacles to rescue a damsel from a giant ape. It introduced Mario, who would become gaming's most iconic character.

Example Usage

Donkey Kong was the game that launched Nintendo into the mainstream and started the entire Mario franchise.

Origin

Created by Shigeru Miyamoto at Nintendo; 'Donkey Kong' was a somewhat random English name chosen to appeal to Western audiences.

Fun Fact

The character was originally called 'Jumpman' and was actually a carpenter, not a plumber—that came later in Mario Bros.

Source: Definition backfill (hailey)

Related Terms

Beginner

R/C car

A radio-controlled miniature car that can be operated remotely, commonly used for racing against friends or in competitive hobby communities.

⚽ Sports / Fitness

Intermediate

pull-ups

An upper-body strength exercise performed by hanging from a horizontal bar and pulling oneself upward until the chin clears the bar, then lowering back down. A standard fitness measure in schools and the military.

⚽ Sports / Fitness

Intermediate

lifting tempo

The speed at which you perform each phase of an exercise, usually written as a sequence like '3-1-2-0' representing eccentric-pause-concentric-pause in seconds. It turns simple lifting into a mathematical equation that most people promptly ignore.

⚽ Sports / Fitness

Intermediate

Cortisol

A stress hormone that increases muscle breakdown and fat storage—basically your body's way of punishing you for poor sleep, excess stress, and overtraining.

⚽ Sports / Fitness

Beginner

Clean Eating

A dietary approach where you only eat "whole, unprocessed foods" and develop the ability to judge everyone else's lunch with a single disapproving glance. It turns grocery shopping into a moral exercise and birthday parties into a minefield.

⚽ Sports / Fitness

Beginner

aerobic

Exercise performed while huffing and puffing enough oxygen to keep your cells happy, as opposed to those masochistic anaerobic sprints that leave you gasping like a landed fish. The magic happens when your heart rate elevates but you can still theoretically hold a conversation (though you probably won't want to). Basically, it's the difference between a pleasant jog and running from a bear.

⚽ Sports / Fitness

Translate This Term

See “Donkey Kong” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

Try the Translator

Share This Term

Post on X Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn

Discover a Term

Beginner

velvety

Smooth and soft to the touch, resembling velvet fabric; also used figuratively to describe something pleasantly smooth, ...