--- Morgan Palaeo Associates
<morganpalaeo@...> wrote:
> Recent events over in afp involving a Usenet troll
> have prompted
> someone to ask for translations of "Do not feed the
> troll" in various
> languages. I offered to ask people here for Conlang
> translations.
>
> Note that this is an opportunity to advertise your
> conlang off-list,
> since I'm going to quote responses in afp. Therefore
> you might choose
> to mention relevant URLs if you want me to advertise
> them along with
> your translation.
>
> An explanation of the word you choose for 'troll'
> (if not a literal
> translation) and why would probably be appropriate.
> As are whatever
> notes you deem necessary.
>
> Adrian.
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.
--gary