Troll...noun or verb

[disney junky]

Is the term troll here used here as a noun or a verb? Trolling is a fishing term, dragging a baited hook behind a boat in order to catch fish. This seems to fit more than the idea of a scary creature that lives under a bridge...any internet etymology experts out there?

 

[Bbgrizzle]

I always thought the term used here was based on the fishing term. People are "baiting" other people with comments to see if they can When used as a noun, it means a person who trolls.

 

[MushyMushy]

The beauty of the English language is that it can be both.

 

[golfgal]

It is both. It can be used to describe a person that is nasty, thus the person is a troll, noun. It can also be used to describe what they are doing, trolling, verb.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I agree, both. And do we have a term for a person who keeps signing up again and again, with different screen names? They might be a troll, but it's the act of signing up again and again that I'm wondering about. And each time it's the same MO, so they want people to know who they are. And as far as I know, the original screen name(s) hasn't been banned (or maybe they have, I don't know for a fact), but it doesn't seem that they have done anything to be banned.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

Well, they never mention Troll in the Conjuntion Junction song. That's about all I remember about English. Oh, and I can diagram a two word sentence. That really wowed them at my last job interview.

 

[Bbgrizzle]

I agree with T&B. When a person has only 4 posts and each of those posts is the OP of a new thread, I'm inclined to think this person is a troll, or a person who is a former DISer who has signed up with a new screen name.

MOST people lurk for a while before posting, then they mainly post responses to other people's threads. It takes a while before people feel confident enough to start a new thread.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

I agree, both. And do we have a term for a person who keeps signing up again and again, with different screen names?

Questionexamonponderwonderthinkquizer?

 

[disney junky]

I always thought the term used here was based on the fishing term. People are "baiting" other people with comments to see if they can When used as a noun, it means a person who trolls.

Wouldn't that make it 'troller'?

I agree, both. And do we have a term for a person who keeps signing up again and again, with different screen names? They might be a troll, but it's the act of signing up again and again that I'm wondering about. And each time it's the same MO, so they want people to know who they are. And as far as I know, the person hasn't been banned (or maybe they have, I don't know for a fact), but it doesn't seem that they have done anything to be banned.

Let's create one. schizophrenitroll

 

[L107ANGEL]

Questionexamonponderwonderthinkquizer?

That made my head hurt

 

[ZuZugal]

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Questionexamonponderwonderthinkquizer?

You forgot Topical.