# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/21 "2002-05-06T19:10:02Z")
From the staff report: > [@](#): > > To be fair, not all trolls are slimeballs. On some message boards, veteran posters with a mischievous bent occasionally go “newbie trolling.” On the Usenet newsgroup alt.folklore.urban, as of a few years ago anyway, it was fairly common for pranksters to post known urban legends as fact in hopes of getting novice users to go, “No, REALLY?” Gotcha, sucker. Glad to see this bit of history mentioned. “Troll” and “Trolling” has shifted in pejorativeness and general application over the years, much like “hacker” means something totally different than it did 20 years ago. On AFU, and USENET groups like it back about in the late 80’s, early 90’s, the term was clearly derived from the fishing usage, and was seen as something of an art form. If done with subtleness and restraint, it could be fairly entertaining, rather like Swift’s baiting of astrologer John Partridge. The fishing motif was very clearly carried through - if you were doing it too obviously, it would earn you comments about “trolling with a bare hook” and so on. It couldn’t last. As USENET grew, trolling, like other types of mischevious net behaviour got to be less than amusing when overapplied in a widening community that didn’t have all the referents to pick up on it, and eventually became so debased as to become entirely a bad thing. Taking off my “old hat” to rejoin SDMB now. ---
**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, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/22 "2002-05-06T19:27:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \* > 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 **racinchikki** : Pointing out a factual error, even a very small one, has never been a crime on these boards. **Dono** ’s first post (no offence **dono** ) suggested that trolling means “dragging a net”, which it doesn’t. _Trawling_ means dragging a net. But to complicate matters, trawling can also be used to mean “dragging a line”, which is what trolling means. I agree it’s weird to have two such similar words, but I didn’t invent the language and it’s not my fault that this was too subtle for you to accept without making a petulant outburst at my expense. Never mind, you two enjoy your crush - I have a small bore gunshot wound to attend to :). ---
**Author:** ![MachV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@MachV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MachV)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2002, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/23 "2002-05-06T19:43:04Z")
Wouldn’t it be fair, however, to say that “Troll/Trolling” has a bit of both meanings? At least now, anyway? Otherwise, wouldn’t we refer to one who trolls as a troller? (maybe not, I’m not up on my fishing terms) Anyway, **yabob’s** post reminded me of old timers that would give newbies helpful advice in chat rooms. “How do I do such and such?” “Try pressing Alt+F4” “Ok, thanks”… ---
**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 9, 2002, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/24 "2002-05-09T06:35:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by everton \* > \*\*Not _at all_ a net. See my previous post and use [Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary) if necessary. \*\* I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![St.Fnordius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@St.Fnordius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Fnordius)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/25 "2002-05-14T07:42:53Z")
It’s probably a troll in itself, but the members of the Usenet group alt.religion.kibology like to claim trolling at their invention. They even got in the news with their “Bob Hope is dead” troll. Kibologists often close a troll with “YHBT.YHL.HAND.” which stands for “You have been trolled. You have lost. Have a nice day.”, and often engage in such practices as double-reverse trolling, or trolling the trolls. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/26 "2002-05-14T14:44:05Z")
I know the word “troll” as a noun has come to mean “one who trolls,” but shouldn’t it be “troller”? I’ve always used “troller” just to clarify that we’re not talking about a monster who lives under a bridge, but a fishing term. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2002, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441/27 "2002-05-14T17:02:13Z")
I consider posting inflammatory comments designed to elicit outraged responses to be trolling but if I say someone is a troll I mean to compare them to a monster who lives under a bridge and eats unsuspecting travelers. The latter is much nastier. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-trolling/107441.md?page=1)