Internet is shocked to discover what the 'loading icon' on their devices is named

Every person using the Internet or tapping on an app has faced issues with a notoriously slow connection at some point in their lives. When the network is lagging, a little circling figure appears on the screens of our devices to keep us company. A lot of us refer to the moving symbol with various names like "loading sign" or "buffering sign." However, little did we know that the tiny symbol had a specific name of its own.

One X user @todayyearsoldig shared a post about the loading sign that stunned the internet. The post reached over 165,000 views in a short time and it featured a couple of pictures of the loading sign and a snapshot of Wikipedia's definition of it. "A throbber, also known as a loading icon, is an animated graphical control element used to show that a computer program is acting as the background," the description reads. The Collins Dictionary defines the icon as "an animated graphic in a computer program or internet browser that informs the user that the program is in the process of performing the requested action."

Sure enough, it left people on the internet baffled as they left their reaction to finding out the "loading icon" being called a throbber. Some people hilariously refused to believe that it was the icon's actual name while others claimed that the name was made up recently. @Noname60639560 wrote, "I was today years old when I learned that. I thought it was called the spinning thing or the circle of waiting." @trbabe joked, "Saying 'sorry I've got a throbber' and not 'sorry I've got a spinning circle' would not go down well in meetings. HR would have a word!"

@Haushinkadaz mentioned, "That’s great and all but I’m not telling my boss I’ve got a throbber on the screen if my net is slow in a meeting." @devlind commented, "What? That's a spinner. I've been in numerous UI design reviews over the years I have never heard it referred to as this. I need to ask someone about this next week." Well, this isn't the first time when people were left stunned after figuring out the hidden meaning behind some symbol or discovering its actual name.

Previously, @todayyearsoldig shared another post that disclosed the true meaning behind the famous Vans logo on the shoes. The profile posted two pictures of the Vans logo and the display of a calculator side by side. Another person, Bruce Edmunds (@bruceedmunds), later posted on X that read, "Fun Fact: The Vans logo is the square root symbol and the answer button on a scientific calculator. If you enter those you will get 420. You're welcome." Additionally, a person on TikTok who goes by @singinggently shared a meme in a video which is captioned, "I was today years old when I realized the VANS logo is the square root of the answer."

According to a blog called Logo My Way, the logo can be traced back to 1966 when the company was founded. The original version of the logo was made by the son of one of the brand's founders who wanted to paint it on a skateboard. However, when his dad James Van Doren saw it, he decided to use it as a logo on one of the company's shoe designs. That led to the successful manufacturing of skateboarding shoes.