Troll
Noun · Verb · Slang & Abbreviations · Origin: 1992
Definitions
A person who deliberately posts inflammatory, off-topic, or provocative messages in online communities to elicit emotional responses. Also: the act of doing so. Originally a fishing metaphor (trolling = dragging bait), it's now one of the internet's most recognized terms.
In plain English: Someone who deliberately stirs up arguments or upsets people online for their own entertainment — not because they believe what they're saying.
Origin Story
Part Norse mythology, part fishing technique, all chaos
Internet **trolling** has a dual etymology that's itself a source of endless debate. The fishing meaning came first online: to *troll* is to slowly drag a baited line through water, hoping something bites. Early Usenet users in the late 1980s used "trolling" to describe posting inflammatory bait and waiting for someone to take it.
But the Norse mythology meaning — the ugly, antisocial creature lurking under a bridge — quickly fused with the fishing sense. By the mid-1990s, a "troll" was both the act (fishing for reactions) and the person (the bridge-dwelling creature who does it). The dual meaning was too perfect to resist, and both etymologies reinforced each other.
The earliest documented use of "trolling" in the internet sense appears in Usenet archives from around 1992. One early FAQ defined it as "posting a message you know is wrong or provocative, then sitting back and watching the fun." Some things never change.
Coined by: Usenet community
Context: Usenet newsgroups, late 1980s to early 1990s
Fun fact: In Old Norse, 'trolls' were shape-shifters who could appear normal until provoked. Internet trolls who maintain a reasonable facade before striking would appreciate the parallel.