What is a troll by the way? [offtopic]

[Robin Becker]

In article <37BDF3A7.75FEA04F at vision.arc.nasa.gov>, Chad Netzer
<chad at vision.arc.nasa.gov> writes
>Robert Kern wrote:
>
>> _Troll_ is a USENET term for someone that deliberately posts an
>> inflammatory message simply to stir up argument.
>
>I've found it funny to watch this term evolve over the past few years.
>It started (I believe) as a reference to the fishing term, and used to
>mean "trolling for flames" (ie. hoping to bring flames to the
>discussion), perhaps employing "flame bait" for this purpose.
>
...
presumably the fishing reference is a mis-pronounced form of trawl
although given the number of English dialects troll might be correct
somewhere in that sense.
-- 
Robin Becker