What is a 'thunk'?

Question

I\'ve seen it used in programming (specifically in the C++ domain) and have no idea what it is. Presumably it is a design pattern, but I could be wrong. Can anyone give a go

Answer 1

I was distressed to find no general 'computer science' definition of this term matching its de-facto usage as known historically to me. The first real-life encounter I can recall where it was actually called that was in the OS/2 days and the 16-32 bit transition. It appears "thunking" is like irony in its application today.

My rough general understanding is that the thunk is a stub routine that just does nothing or routes across some fundamental boundary in kind between systems as in the mentioned historical cases.

So the sense is like a synesthesia of being dropped from the one environment to the other making (metaphorically/as a simile) a "thunk" sound.