gopher

   [obs.]  A  type  of  Internet  service  first floated around 1991 and
   obsolesced  around  1995  by  the  World  Wide Web. Gopher presents a
   menuing  interface  to  a tree or graph of links; the links can be to
   documents,  runnable  programs, or other gopher menus arbitrarily far
   across the net.

   Some  claim  that the gopher software, which was originally developed
   at the University of Minnesota, was named after the Minnesota Gophers
   (a  sports  team).  Others claim the word derives from American slang
   gofer  (from  "go  for", dialectal "go fer"), one whose job is to run
   and fetch things. Finally, observe that gophers dig long tunnels, and
   the  idea  of  tunneling  through  the  net to find information was a
   defining  metaphor for the developers. Probably all three things were
   true,  but  with  the  first  two  coming first and the gopher-tunnel
   metaphor  serendipitously adding flavor and impetus to the project as
   it developed out of its concept stage.

[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {gopher hole}]