Re: Translation: Trolls and their Management

Quoting Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...>:

> Since most of the responses have translated "troll" as
> a large, unpleasant humanoid creature from folklore I
> thought I might point out that the usenet meaning of
> "troll" comes from the fishing term "to troll" which
> The American Heritage Dictionary defines as "To fish
> by trailing a baited line from behind a slowly moving
> boat."  The Usenet troll fishes for suckers (a
> freshwater fish with a thick-lipped mouth) by baiting
> a post with deliberately provocative statements (the
> bait) in the hope of inciting an acrimonious argument
> (the fish fight).
>
> Thus angling metphors would be more appropriate than
> ugly-monsters-who-live-under-bridges metphors.
But a whole lot less fun! Besides, harder for me to translate, given my poor
knowledge of fishing and things related thereto.

Of course, to a Meghean- or Yargish-speaker* a _drom_ or _yuran_ are no more
folkloristic than a bear or wolf is to us; in the Yargish case perhaps less,
since they're much more likely to encounter one than most modern Westerners
are to see a bear or wolf in the wild. They're, btw, not known for living
below bridges.

* Hm, I sense a need or pseudo-latinate compounds here. Mezanophones and
iargophones, perhaps?

                                                    Andreas