Funny the subject of trolls should come up now as I was wondering... I'm a bit naive when it comes to this kind of thing so can easily engage with a troll at first, depending on its opening gambit, so thanks for this heads-up. I just play the ball until I discover that there is no game to be pursued. In this way a troll can be useful in raising a point which bears answering then helping one define the limits of a line of enquiry.
Robert j. karm
In fact, I've been thinking in terms of "whinge-bots" or A.I. doom-mongers as there has been (no guarantee for the future) a loose format or selection of turns of phrase which along with zero positive contribution get my instinct hackles up.
Robert j. karm
Etymonline (for etymology of words)
troll (v.)
"late 14c., "to go about, stroll," later (early 15c.) "roll from side to side, trundle," probably from Old French troller, a hunting term, "wander, to go in quest of game without purpose" (Modern French trôler), from a Germanic source (compare Old High German trollen "to walk with short steps"), from Proto-Germanic *truzlanan.
Sense of "sing in a full, rolling voice" (first attested 1570s) and that of "fish with a moving line" (c. 1600) both are extended technical uses from the general sense of "roll, trundle," the former from "sing in the manner of a catch or round," the latter perhaps confused with trail or trawl. Figurative sense of "to lure on as with a moving bait, entice, allure" is from 1560s. Meaning "to cruise in search of sexual encounters" is recorded from 1967, originally in homosexual slang.
The internet sense (everyone seems to have his own definition of it) seems to date to the late 1980s or early 1990s and the Newsgroups era, and the verbal use is perhaps older than the noun. It seems to combine troll (v.) in the "fish with a moving line" sense (itself confused with trawl) and troll (n.1) "troublesome imp supposed to live underground."
Note how the idea of 'trolling' associated with fishing with a moving line is actually a mistake, and comes from 'trawl' - "1560s, from Dutch tragelen, from Middle Dutch traghelen "to drag," from traghel "dragnet," probably from Latin tragula "dragnet."
(trail (v.)
c. 1300, "to hang down loosely and flow behind" (of a gown, sleeve, etc.), from Old French trailler "to tow; pick up the scent of a quarry," ultimately from Vulgar Latin *tragulare "to drag," from Latin tragula "dragnet, javelin thrown by a strap," probably related to trahere "to pull" (see tract (n.1)). Transitive sense of "to tow or pull along the ground" is from c. 1400. The meaning "follow the trail of" (an animal, etc.) is first recorded late 14c. Meaning "to lag behind" is from 1957. Related: Trailed; trailing.)
However - good video! :D
We've lost one troll recently - do you suspect there's another about?
I just bring it forward when one seems to be around. I just think it helpful sometimes