[Ads-l] to troll =? take the mickey

[Chris Waigl]

In the London-centered BrE I was used to while living there, the question
"are you taking the Mickey" means something like "are you kidding", leaning
towards "are you fucking with me?" This doesn't quite work with your
"trolling" sense, though it's otherwise close. (Mickey is of course rhyming
slang for piss.)

Chris

On Wed, Jul 11, 2018 at 3:42 PM Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
wrote:

> My understanding of “take the mickey/piss out of someone” is to talk in a
> manner to incite someone to irritation or anger as a generally accepted
> social ritual for humor. Wikipedia (
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taking_the_piss <
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taking_the_piss>) has a more expansive
> definition.
>
> In AmE, I would be inclined to say “fuck with/play around someone”, though
> the semantic range seems a little different.
>
> It occurred to me recently that “troll” may be closer to “take the mickey”.
>
> Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/troll#Verb <
> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/troll#Verb>) says: (Internet slang) to
> provoke, harass or annoy. The OLD (
> https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/troll <
> https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/troll>) says: Make a
> deliberately offensive or provocative online post with the aim of upsetting
> someone or eliciting an angry response from them.
>
> Both of those definitions sound like the object of trolling is
> inflammatory, but there is a usage such as, “I’m just trolling you”,
> meaning, “I’m just joking around/fucking with you” with a light humorous
> sense instead of a sinister one.
>
> 1. Urban Dictionary (I stopped at page 10)
> a. Oni-Unit December 27, 2005
> https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll&page=3 <
> https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll&page=3>
> Not all trolls go to a message board and spam it with flames, racism, and
> Goatse before getting banned 5 minutes later. Trolling is a hobby in the
> same vein as prank phone calls, and the true objective of trolling is to be
> clever and creative in getting a reaction out of the troll victims.
>
> b. BadBoyBubby June 13, 2005
> https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll&page=7 <
> https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll&page=7>
> Trolls are also a source of genuine humour, which depends entirely upon
> whether the troll is a good or a bad troll. It's usually fairly easy to
> spot the difference between such actions: a bad troll resorts only to weak
> uncreative arguments whereas a good troll will create a subtle set of
> arguments which draw people in with cunning twists to provide a thread of
> non sequitur humour.
>
> 2. Want You Gone
> 20 April 2017
> Chris Brookmyre
> https://bit.ly/2zy3EfG <https://bit.ly/2zy3EfG>
>         'There is no problem. I’m just trolling you, Jack.’
>         Parlabane shakes his head, lets out a laugh despite himself.
>         ‘You really had me there,” he admits.
>
> 3. Dragon Lady: A Gender Swapped LitRPG Adventure
> 4 January 2018
> Alyson Belle
> https://bit.ly/2N8hRlv <https://bit.ly/2N8hRlv>
> He laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. “Oh, relax, Goldie. I’m just
> trolling you all….
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Formerly of Seattle, WA
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
Chris Waigl . chris.waigl at gmail.com . chris at lascribe.net
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net . http://chryss.eu

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