Troll

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Dr. Goodword
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Troll

Postby Dr. Goodword » Mon Dec 20, 2021 6:55 pm

• troll •


Pronunciation: trol • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Verb, Noun

Meaning: 1. (Verb) To fish by pulling a line through the water. 2. (Verb) To try to lure or incite someone by passing something where they can see it. 3. (Obsolete verb) To sing in the manner of a round or simply merrily. 4. (Noun) A Norse demon that lives under bridges. 5. (Noun) Someone who posts provocative messages to social media intended to cause maximum disruption.

Notes: We have reduced the 14 meanings of today's Good Word found in the Oxford English Dictionary to the five central ones you see here. Most of this word's meanings are obsolete, but the US news media now has resurrected the word in the fifth one.

In Play: The third meaning of this word emerges only in the Christmas carol, Deck the Halls:

"Don we now our gay apparel
Fa la la la la la la la la
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol
Fa la la la la la la la la."

The fifth sense, by far the more common today, arises in expressions like: "Trolls on social media had an impact on the 2016 US elections."

Word History: The origin of the verbal sense of today's Good Word is something of a mystery. It can be traced back only as far as two Old French words, troller "to go hunting" and trôler "to meander, wander about". The latter sense may have been borrowed from Germanic trollen "to roll", but then disappeared from most dialects. The French troller today was borrowed back from English and means "to spam". You can see how the senses of the French words might be related to the first two meanings of today's word, but where the third meaning came from is anybody's guess. The verb has no relation to the noun troll, which was borrowed from Norwegian. (Let us all troll a melody of Yuletide thanksgiving to Peggy Nielsen for suggesting this elderly member of the English vocabulary for today's Good Word.)
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bbeeton
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Re: Troll

Postby bbeeton » Mon Dec 20, 2021 9:19 pm

There's another computer association with trolls that's much less objectionable than meaning 5. Long ago (in computer terms) there was a delightful game, Adventure, in which one of the obstacles was "Troll bridge. Pay troll."

And even more dear to me was the t-shirt I used to wear as the proud driver of a SAAB: "Made in Trollhättan by trolls". Sadly, SAABs are no longer made anywhere, by trolls or anyone else. (Although I'm still driving one, but no longer a 2-cycle.)

Exploration of a bookstore in Oslo with a friend, near the end of the last century, uncovered a beautifully illustrated children's book about trolls that presented them not as creatures to be hated or feared, but as rather gentle and rustic, if a bit odd. It was the perfect gift to take back for her daughters.

David Myer
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Re: Troll

Postby David Myer » Wed Dec 22, 2021 12:25 am

Yes, Barbara, certainly the trolls in Icelandic stuffed-toy shops appear friendly enough. And long may your SAAB continue to (t)roll.

I wonder if the mysterious origins of the third meaning, singing merrily, might come very simply from the refrain "Tra la la" that appears in many merry songs?


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