Rachel’s deconstruction of trolling last night (video) got me thinking about the word “troll.” Like:
1. Where did those freaky troll dolls come from anyway?
In 1959, Thomas Dam could not afford to buy his young daughter a birthday present and instead carved for her a doll inspired by the legendary trolls which were believed to live in the Nordic forests and would bring luck to any humans who could catch them. Dam’s daughter took to the doll and dressed it up and showed it to local villagers. The doll attracted the eye of a Danish toy store owner and soon Dam was selling versions of the doll all over the world, selling more than a million of the in the United States in 1964 alone.
2. Of course, in World of Warcraft, trolls are a whole different thing:
Trolls are often tall, lanky, and muscular. They have both elven and orcish characteristics with their fierce fangs and long ears. Their long arms, strong legs and quick reflexes make them adept hunters. Trolls have only two fingers and a thumb on their hands, and they have only two toes on each foot. Like the tauren, trolls do not wear standard shoes or boots, although while tauren are unable to do so because of the shape of their hooves, trolls are simply more comfortable barefoot.
Trolls have a characteristic way of speaking. Words like “yo” (a greeting) and “mon” (man) are common expressions. They speak with varying accents that resemble that of Jamaicans and Cubans. Cuban-sounding accents are more common among forest trolls.
3. According to Urban Dictionary the word “troll” can also mean (among many many other definitions):
(noun) Term referring to a person who, throughout the course of a beer pong game, failed to make a single cup and as a result must sit under the beer pong table for the duration of the following game.
Chiefly used in Michigan to describe the residents of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula who live south of (or under) the 5 mile long Mackinac Bridge that connects Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas.
4. Some useful knowledge about web trolls from the Rules of the Internet:
11. All your carefully picked arguments can easily be ignored
12. Anything you say can and will be used against you
13. Anything you say can be turned into something else – fixed
14. Do not argue with trolls – it means that they win
15. The harder you try the harder you will fail
42. Nothing is Sacred.
43. The more beautiful and pure a thing is–the more satisfying it is to corrupt it.
5. First Lady Lady Bird Johnson owned a troll doll. So it must be OK.
Kent Jones