Hacker News Reader

And where exactly did you think the internet troll's name was derived?

Trolling, the fishing method. For me, a internet troll is a person that says something provocation hoping that someone will "bite" and waste time arguing.

> trolling, the fishing method.

I am pretty sure that one is "trawling".

Trawling is with a net. E.g. commercial fishing. Trolling is traditional rod/reel/bait.

I had the same thought, but they're both a thing: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolling_(fishing)

Trolling is indeed a fishing method, but "don't feed the troll" was a common phrase on Usenet.

Both meaning were probably intended.

I always figured it just meant Troll as in the fairy tale creature who are notoriously not nice.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com