"Trolling"

[intpz]

I don't like the word. I wonder, what's the origin of it? And I don't mean "Troll," I mean the MEANING that is given to it. Is it even considered a real word?

 

[PmjPmj]

I was trolling when you were still in nappies.

I would assume that it was derived from the saying "Do not feed the troll!"

 

[EditorOne]

"Don't feed the troll" was actually a play on words that came second. Originally, online, in chat rooms and whatnot, "trolling" was what people did who just wanted to maliciously engage, as in this Merriam-Webster definition:

"to fish by trailing a lure or baited hook from a moving boat"

So you take the bait and argue, and they've hooked you, and will continue relentlessly to argue, because the point of the exercise from their standpoint is to start the argument and never let you win.

"Don't feed the troll" is just the next step, using a noun spelled the same as the verb "troll." You go from being baited to an ugly Norse fairy tale creature that lives under a bridge (or in a cave) and springs out to attack you.

(Note that trolling for fish is different than trawling, which involves pulling a net.)

Anyway I'm right because I was there when Al Gore invented the internet. :-)

 

[Fukyo]

Here you go.

 

[intpz]

"Don't feed the troll" was actually a play on words that came second. Originally, online, in chat rooms and whatnot, "trolling" was what people did who just wanted to maliciously engage, as in this Merriam-Webster definition:

"to fish by trailing a lure or baited hook from a moving boat"

So you take the bait and argue, and they've hooked you, and will continue relentlessly to argue, because the point of the exercise from their standpoint is to start the argument and never let you win.

"Don't feed the troll" is just the next step, using a noun spelled the same as the verb "troll." You go from being baited to an ugly Norse fairy tale creature that lives under a bridge (or in a cave) and springs out to attack you.

(Note that trolling for fish is different than trawling, which involves pulling a net.)

Anyway I'm right because I was there when Al Gore invented the internet. :-)

@EditorOne I see. I don't like the word, it sounds rather stupid. I wonder how it got so popular lately.

 

[PmjPmj]

"Don't feed the troll" was actually a play on words that came second.

Really?

Well, they do say you learn something new every day

 

[Proletar]

Trolling equals being a dick. No idea why the internet needed a new word for it.

 

[intpz]

I don't think that's a fair comparison, unless our definitions of being a dick are different. What's yours?

 

[Jennywocky]

EditorOne I see. I don't like the word, it sounds rather stupid. I wonder how it got so popular lately.

Lately? I've been using the term (and hearing it) for years.

Sigh. You young 'uns... *head shake*

 

[Fukyo]

Lately? I've been using the term (and hearing it) for years.

According to google it's been around since the 90s...I guess intpz is just a noob.

 

[Hadoblado]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAHfUdf_aX8

 

[NinjaSurfer]

I don't like the word. I wonder, what's the origin of it? And I don't mean "Troll," I mean the MEANING that is given to it. Is it even considered a real word?

yes.

 

[intpz]

Lately? I've been using the term (and hearing it) for years.

Sigh. You young 'uns... *head shake*

Whoever I spoke to since I have internet at home (200x), I have never heard it until maybe 2010 or so. I wonder why that is, I've been visiting various forums, chatting, online gaming, lots of it.

 

[Solitaire U.]

It used to be 'trawler' (see EditorOne's definition above), back in the USENET days. I always assumed that it was corrupted into 'troll' by net kiddies who play too much Warcraft and don't understand the concept of 'trawling'.

 

[Bhagavat]

I like to troll...