On Sunday 18 Jan 2004 4:46 pm, you wrote:
> 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).
>
Indeed - this is where (I think) the gay slang term "trolling" comes from - a
man on the hunt for sex will troll the bars for some action.
> Thus angling metphors would be more appropriate than
> ugly-monsters-who-live-under-bridges metphors.
>
Gevey is boring and uses the word "loiflaeye" (dirt man), which is a
derogatory term for an outcast or outlaw. Gevey society doesn't have a stock
of stories about monsters and billy goats.
> --gary
Rik