[FRIAM] Pondering the slang Adulting

[Nick Thompson]

Owen, 

 

I think this is a wonderful example of the coming together of  two meanings.  The idea of dangling some bait for some high=minded poor fool to bite, and the idea of lurking in a cave while doing it.  Language is less like a genealogy and more like the threads of a delta, where rivulets divide and reconverge.  

 

Nick 

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

From: Friam [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com] On Behalf Of Owen Densmore
Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2018 11:06 AM
To: Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Pondering the slang Adulting

 

I'm catching up on old email. Trolling is lovely although a horrid but sometimes worthy pursuit.

 

I like this:

 

troll1

/trōl/ 

noun

noun: troll; plural noun: trolls

1.    a mythical, cave-dwelling being depicted in folklore as either a giant or a dwarf, typically having a very ugly appearance.


synonyms:

goblin, hobgoblin, gnome, halfling, demon, monster, bugaboo, ogre

"the storybook trolls who live under the bridge"

Origin



early 17th century: from Old Norse and Swedish troll, Danish trold . The first English use is from Shetland; the term was adopted more widely into English in the mid 19th century.

troll2

/trōl/ 

noun

noun: troll; plural noun: trolls

1.    1.

a person who makes a deliberately offensive or provocative online post.

o    INFORMAL

a deliberately offensive or provocative online posting.

2.    2.

a line or bait used in trolling for fish.

verb

verb: troll; 3rd person present: trolls; past tense: trolled; past participle: trolled; gerund or present participle: trolling

1.    1.

INFORMAL

make a deliberately offensive or provocative online post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them.

"if people are obviously trolling then I'll delete your posts and do my best to ban you"

2.    2.

fish by trailing a baited line along behind a boat.

"we trolled for mackerel"

o    carefully and systematically search an area for something.

"a group of companies trolling for partnership opportunities"

3.    3.

sing (something) in a happy and carefree way.

"troll the ancient Yuletide carol"

4.    4.

BRITISH

walk; stroll.

"we all trolled into town"

Origin

late Middle English (in the sense ‘stroll, roll’): origin uncertain; compare with Old French troller ‘wander here and there (in search of game)’ and Middle High German trollen ‘stroll.’

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/attachments/20181226/716a354a/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 4688 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/attachments/20181226/716a354a/attachment-0001.png>