# The term "TROLL" is over used **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 19, 2002, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892 "2002-07-19T23:24:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/1 "2002-07-19T23:24:08Z")
I suggest that the term “troll” is over-used on the internet and it’s use is a sign of a lack of intellect. Often people dismiss posts as “trolls” simply because they disagree with the post. “Troll” is such a general term that it means very little. And before you all start - no this is not a troll! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/2 "2002-07-19T23:28:18Z")
Possibly, although I think it’s probably not too overused at this particular site. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2002, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/3 "2002-07-19T23:38:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Possibly, although I think it’s probably not too overused at this particular site. \*\* I agree… I rarely see it used here. Also, as to the use of “troll” being a sign of lack of intellect, I disagree. Or at least, I would say that it depends entirely upon the situation. Internet trolls are an entirely real phenomenon. Used properly, the term is not a case of simple disagreement, but a case when someone (the troll in question) is obviously using whatever forum simply to start trouble, generate pointless (and endless) argument, or cause strife among the community at large. Having been in several troll-infected communities, I can say that they are very real and sometimes very hard to get rid of. There’s nothing wrong with calling a troll a troll, in my book. However, I will agree that the term can be overused… but if you’re going to say someone lacks intellect just because they call another poster a troll, you’d better have more to back it up. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/4 "2002-07-20T00:11:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Griffin \* > \*\*And before you all start - no this is not a troll! \*\* That’s **just** what a troll would say! \ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/5 "2002-07-20T01:00:23Z")
Darn, **tracer** took my joke. ---
**Author:** ![owlofcreamcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2002, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/6 "2002-07-20T01:32:51Z")
its all the black gay lesbians saying it no doubt. they always be doing that stuff ---
**Author:** ![Go\_alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Go\_alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_alien)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/7 "2002-07-22T11:36:27Z")
What’s wrong with trolls? They are poor, underpaid bridge keepers, working hard to ensure that their bridges are properly maintained. Why do they get so heavily criticised? Without them, there’d be no bridges at all and then where would we be? ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/8 "2002-07-22T11:41:31Z")
I don’t believe the term is overused. I see some people use it inappropriately, but it’s hardly a regular occurrence, and it’s often correct–even if a poster isn’t a troll, the phrasing of their post can be seen as deliberately inflammatory. It doesn’t have to be something shocking, but there are loaded terms that intelligent posters really should avoid if they want to be taken seriously. If anything, I’d suggest that the term “troll” has become far too sensitive a word on these boards. It’s tiresome to see drive-by responses consisting of “DNFTT”, it’s not really that different to the occasional subsequent pile-on for using the term. If the administration of these boards prefers to keep the use of the word to a minimum, then I won’t argue, but it seems to be becoming a loaded term in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/9 "2002-07-22T12:10:15Z")
Troll seems to have two distinct connotations. In the olden days, trolling seems to have been considered a noble pursuit, in which the stupid would be gulled and the intelligent would spot the troll and applaud. This sense is reflected in the Jargon File definition of the term, sense 1: [http://tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/troll.html](http://tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/troll.html) However, since the internet has become more and more full of stupid people (mentioning no companies allied with TimeWarner), and less and less an elitist club, more websites and fora have seen stupid and destructive people posting ignorant and malicious messages, to the extent that trolls became a significant problem for the cognoscenti, rather than a source of fun. This means trolling as an art (a somewhat dubious art IMHO) has largely been obscured by trolling as the act of an idiot or vandal. Whether the second sense should be called “trolling” or something different (“being stupid”?) is I guess open to debate. Obligatory troll: Cecil Adams is Marilyn Vos Savant. ---
**Author:** ![keeper0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@keeper0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeper0)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/10 "2002-07-23T13:43:50Z")
I would like to see another term to describe deliberately provocative postings which fall short of Trolldom. For example, when people title a thread with the words breast, sex etc. to boost the view count. Or when somebody starts a thread on “Why this unsubstantiated report from a fringe political group has convinced me that every government program is evil”, but seems to be genuine about their views. The word I propose is “Trawl”, as in trawling for responses/views. If you need to be grammatically correct, I suppose such a person would be a “Trawler”. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/11 "2002-07-23T20:56:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by keeper0 \* > \*\*I would like to see another term to describe deliberately provocative postings which fall short of Trolldom. > > … > > The word I propose is “Trawl”, as in trawling for responses/views. If you need to be grammatically correct, I suppose such a person would be a “Trawler”. \*\* Yeah, I second. “Troll” is entirely too evil-sounding for this type of post. Also, as I think others have pointed out, _trawl_ is the correct spelling for “fishing by trailing a large net”, and it’s not even pronounced the same as _troll_, at least not in my variant of English. [Aside] Let’s also stop using _whine_ unless the whiner is actually speaking with a whiny voice. Just complaining in a neutral tone about something isn’t whining. [/Aside] I am NOT whining! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/12 "2002-07-24T08:24:20Z")
I think an important aspect of trolling is that the troll does not actually believe in what s/he is posting, but is merely making inflammatory statement for the fun of watching people get upset and post angry responses. This distinction separates the trolls from the kooks (who do sincerely believe in what they are posting). ---
**Author:** ![keeper0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@keeper0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeper0)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/13 "2002-07-24T13:56:56Z")
> [@](#): > > trawl is the correct spelling for “fishing by trailing a large net”, and it’s not even pronounced the same as troll, at least not in my variant of English. Yup, **javaman** , that’s exactly the definition I am thinking of. Because, in my mind, such posters are fishing for lots of responses. The two words are distinct in pronunciation, but similar enough to indicate that “trawl” is not a compliment and to emphasize some similarities in behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/14 "2002-07-25T00:14:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by owlofcreamcheese \* > \*\*its all the black gay lesbians saying it no doubt. they always be doing that stuff \*\* As opposed to all those straight lesbians out there? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/15 "2002-07-25T00:18:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by javaman \* > **Also, as I think others have pointed out, _trawl_ is the correct spelling for “fishing by trailing a large net”, and it’s not even pronounced the same as _troll_, at least not in my variant of English.** I hasten to add that a woman I know who is in her 50s – and who has never even used a BBS before – has used the word “trolling” throughout her life to refer to a woman who goes someplace for the specific purpose of finding a mate. (The implication being that she is “trolling for a husband” in the same sense that one goes after fish with a large net.) ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-term-troll-is-over-used/119892/16 "2002-07-25T00:38:17Z")
After just having begun to post here, I encountered a person that was identified as a troll, and got a handy explanation from **Fenris**. Later I attempted to use the word and a couple people corrected me and said I probably was too quick to use the word. So my guess is that the word really isn’t a problem hereabouts, since people seem to turn into General Turgidson when the word gets thrown out…“Well, sir, I’d like to hold off judgment on a thing like that until all the facts are in.”