According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary the origin of the internet ‘trolling’ most likely comes from fishing rather than bridge-guarding creatures:
Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary
The Origin of ‘Trolling’
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Well, I mean…yeah? I remember when the phrase was coined, it was a fishing reference; they were fishing for responses, luring in people with something offensive or stupid. How did people not know this?
“How did people not know this?”
I see what you did there, and approve. Trollers gonna troll!
I just learned this from this post, because English is not my first language, so I’m not familiar with fishing terminology. Nice to know, though!
Trawling.
I remember the origin: we used to go “trolling for noobs” back in the late 90s.
Huh. I thought that was trawling, not trolling. But you learn something new every day
Trawling is a big commercial fishing boat dragging the bottom of the ocean with a huge fishing net.
Having fished lakes in my younger days we would fish the lake in a small boat using a trolling motor which is a small, quiet electric motor with a prop used to maneuver a boat at slow speeds.
When it comes to internet trolls I ignore them, eventually they go away if they don’t get any bites.