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To Troll


Idiom: To
troll someone or something. Used as a verb (action) or noun (person). To make
a  provocative online comment or posting with the goal of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from
them. A person who posts to an internet discussion group, chat room, or blog with the sole purpose of disrupting it.


Context
#1 – Two friends talking about a blog

Sal:Hey
Patty, what’s wrong? You look upset?

Patty: I’m
so mad!! I write this blog about politics and that guy from our
class, Reggie, keeps writing all these comments about Trump and how
great he is.

Sal: Really?

Patty:
Yes. All his comments support everything Trump says. It’s crazy! No
matter what I say, he just supports Trump more and argues more with
me.

Sal:
Well, I know Reggie and he is actually a Democrat and super liberal.
I doubt he is serious about anything he is saying about Trump.

Patty: What?
Do you mean he is just trolling
me!

Sal:
Yep. You have to admit that it’s pretty funny to
troll
people
about controversial politicians. He probably just wants to provoke
you.

Patty:
I never thought of that! Are you sure he doesn’t like Trump? He seems
so sincere when he writes comments on my blog.

Sal:
Yes, I’m sure. That’s what makes him such a good troll!

Context
#2 – Two friends talking about Facebook

Tim:
Hey, Michelle, what are you laughing about?

Michelle:
Oh, hi Tim. I’m writing some comments about Hillary’s recent speech
on Facebook.

Tim:
And why is that funny?

Michelle:
Well, I’m turning her words from the speech around to make her look
bad. My goodness, I had no idea her supporters would freak out so
much!

Tim:
You are so mean! You don’t even care about the election or the
candidates.

Michelle:
Hahahaha!
I know! But it’s fun to see everyone get so upset over a few
negative comments! I don’t
usually
troll
people like that, but I’m enjoying myself too much to stop.

Tim:
Well,
be careful. You don’t want anyone to “unfriend” you because of a
little trolling.

Michelle:

You’re right. I’ll stop trolling….tomorrow!

Meaning: To
troll means to purposely and
cleverly provoke an angry or emotional response via the internet through comments and dialogue. However, trolling does not only mean making rude
comments or statements. The most important part of trolling is to
act like one truly believes what one is saying, even if it is
completely outrageous. So the person who is being trolled should not
know that he or she is being trolled by someone.

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