troll<br /><br />v.,n. 1. [From the Usenet group alt.folklore.urban] To<br />utter a posting on Usenet designed to attract predictable<br />responses or flames; or, the post itself. Derives from the phrase<br />"trolling for newbies" which in turn comes from mainstream<br />"trolling", a style of fishing in which one trails bait through a<br />likely spot hoping for a bite. The well-constructed troll is a post<br />that induces lots of newbies and flamers to make themselves look<br />even more clueless than they already do, while subtly conveying to<br />the more savvy and experienced that it is in fact a deliberate<br />troll. If you don't fall for the joke, you get to be in on it. See<br />also YHBT. 2. An individual who chronically trolls in sense 1;<br />regularly posts specious arguments, flames or personal attacks to a<br />newsgroup, discussion list, or in email for no other purpose than to<br />annoy someone or disrupt a discussion. Trolls are recognizable by<br />the fact that the have no real interest in learning about the topic<br />at hand - they simply want to utter flame bait. Like the ugly<br />creatures they are named after, they exhibit no redeeming<br />characteristics, and as such, they are recognized as a lower form of<br />life on the net, as in, "Oh, ignore him, he's just a troll." 3.<br />[Berkeley] Computer lab monitor. A popular campus job for CS<br />students. Duties include helping newbies and ensuring that lab<br />policies are followed. Probably so-called because it involves<br />lurking in dark cavelike corners.<br /><br />Some people claim that the troll (sense 1) is properly a narrower<br />category than flame bait, that a troll is categorized by containing<br />some assertion that is wrong but not overtly controversial. See<br />also Troll-O-Meter.
