# What is "Trolling?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2002, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441 "2002-05-05T22:48:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![the\_great\_dalmuti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b2d939/32.png) [@the\_great\_dalmuti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_great_dalmuti)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/1 "2002-05-05T22:48:26Z")
Over in the Great Debates forum, someone posted a response which consisted of the single word “TROLL,” and other people made a fairly big deal out of it, saying it was rude, and uncalled for, and whatnot. What’s that all about? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/2 "2002-05-05T22:51:35Z")
Trolling is the practice of posting insulting and or inflammatory remarks solely for the purpose of eliciting outraged responses. A troll is one who does this. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/3 "2002-05-05T22:52:19Z")
Basically going around (particularly on message boards) pissing people off one way or another. You said that they made a fairly big deal about it. That is generally the wrong way to handle it. Normally what you should do is ignore the troll compleatly. The troll acomplished his/her mission if they stirred up a lot of conversation. ---
**Author:** ![the\_great\_dalmuti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b2d939/32.png) [@the\_great\_dalmuti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_great_dalmuti)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/4 "2002-05-05T22:56:02Z")
Thanks for the quick answers, Ringo and Joey P. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/5 "2002-05-05T23:01:34Z")
For further details, you can see the Staff Report answering the question [What is a Troll?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtroll.html) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2002, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/6 "2002-05-05T23:36:44Z")
E.g., posting to Cafe Society that Bladerunner is an overrated movie because it isn’t in the right _genre_! (The most obvious troll I’ve seen lately.) ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/7 "2002-05-06T00:06:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joey P \* > \*\*Basically going around (particularly on message boards) pissing people off one way or another. You said that they made a fairly big deal about it. That is generally the wrong way to handle it. Normally what you should do is ignore the troll compleatly. The troll acomplished his/her mission if they stirred up a lot of conversation. \*\* They weren’t making a big deal about a troll. They were making a big deal about someone else accusing someone of being a troll with no evidence stated. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/8 "2002-05-06T00:16:00Z")
Trolling is a bannable offense on this message board and therefore a very serious accusation. It is against board policy to make such an allegation against another member in good standing. If you suspect that someone is trolling, the proper procedure is to e-mail a moderator, or use the “report this post to a moderator” function, and let the administration handle it. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/9 "2002-05-06T00:34:29Z")
FWIW, the term “Trolling” comes not from the little ogres that hide under bridges, but to the fishing practice of just throwing a huge net overboard and draging it along the ground to catch whatever you can. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/10 "2002-05-06T01:06:08Z")
Very nearly, **Muad’Dib** , but if you’re using a net that would be _trawling_. Trolling is dragging a line with a baited hook or hooks. ---
**Author:** ![dono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@dono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dono)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/11 "2002-05-06T01:10:33Z")
Or not necessarily a net, **Muad** - I troll a worm harness with a chartruse blade for walleye. But basically, the idea’s the same - you drag it around for a while, and see if you get any bites. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/12 "2002-05-06T01:38:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dono \* > Or not necessarily a net, Not _at all_ a net. See my previous post and use [Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary) if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/13 "2002-05-06T01:49:13Z")
I love this board. Where else could a discussion of posting etiquette be hijacked by a debate on the correct use of a fishing term? Things like this just make me come back day after day. Thank you all. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/14 "2002-05-06T01:50:27Z")
Aren’t trawling and trolling basically the _same damn word_? Use Merriam-Webster yourself, for crying out loud, if you’re going to play the semantics game. Main Entry: 1trawl Pronunciation: 'trol Function: verb Etymology: probably from obsolete Dutch tragelen Date: 1561 intransitive senses 1 : to fish with a trawl **2 : TROLL 2** transitive senses : to catch (fish) with a trawl ---
**Author:** ![dono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@dono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dono)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/15 "2002-05-06T02:00:23Z")
**chikki** , you are now my Official Board Crush. And I used my triple-digit post to tell you that. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/16 "2002-05-06T02:02:48Z")
\*\* racinchikki\*\*, yes. But now that I think about - and this has no bearing on 'net usage - I’ve never trolled with a net; a net’s something I associate with trawling. Egad! Somebody let me out of this thread! ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/17 "2002-05-06T02:05:12Z")
Aww. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/18 "2002-05-06T02:13:08Z")
From the same dictionary ([m-w.com](http://m-w.com)) I find the following: > [@](#): > > troll (v): to fish by trailing a lure or baited hook from a moving boat > trawl(v): to catch (fish) with a trawl > trawl(n): a large conical net dragged along the sea bottom in gathering fish or other marine life So both are fishing terms, but refer to different methods. The Internet trolls use bait to lure unsuspecting posters, so “trolling” is more appropriate than “trawling.” Although the section **racinchikki** quoted indicates that _traw_ is sometimes used as a synonym for _troll_, but it’s not the primary usage. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/19 "2002-05-06T11:32:45Z")
Either way, I like to imagine a message-board troll as the cyber-version of a little gruesome creature that sits under a bridge and irritates people. ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/20 "2002-05-06T17:20:06Z")
Wow, I came into this thread hoping it was about fishing, it wasn’t, but then it was! How great is that?! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441.md?page=2)