[Ads-l] Slang Sense of "Catfishing"

[Jonathan Lighter]

If a machine can invent an apposite title like "Love in the Time of Spam,"
we may as well admit it's over.

I've had even more spectacularly future-dystopic experiences with both
Google Bard and Bing, but I'll spare you the details.

JL

JL

On Sun, Jan 7, 2024 at 12:35 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:

> Please, please, please do not use Bard, ChatGPT, or any other generative AI
> chatbot for this type of word research, because they will inevitably
> produce "hallucinations." For instance, in the synthetic text produced
> here, there is no such book called "Love in the Time of Spam" by Barbara
> Ehrenreich. Let's not clutter ADS-L with such misinformation.
>
>
> On Sun, Jan 7, 2024 at 9:26 AM David Daniel <dad at coarsecourses.com> wrote:
>
> > Here's what Bard said, no idea if it is accurate or not:
> >
> > The earliest documented reference to "catfishing" specifically for online
> > deception interestingly doesn't come from online sources! It appears in
> the
> > 2010 documentary film "Catfish," directed by Nev Schulman. The film
> > chronicles Schulman's own experience falling in love with someone online
> > whom he later discovered used a fake persona. This film is widely
> credited
> > with popularizing the term in its current context.
> >
> > However, if we broaden the scope a bit, there are some earlier clues
> > pointing to similar concepts:
> >
> > 1996: The novel "A Complicated Kindness" by Miriam Toews explores themes
> of
> > deception and online relationships, featuring a character who fabricates
> an
> > online persona to connect with others.
> > 2002: The MTV show "Room Raiders" aired an episode titled "Love Online,"
> > which explored the potential for deception and catfishing in online
> dating
> > environments.
> > 2006: The book "Love in the Time of Spam" by Barbara Ehrenreich delves
> into
> > the world of online dating and mentions techniques used by some
> individuals
> > to misrepresent themselves online.
> > These examples suggest that the concept of online deception for romantic
> > purposes existed before the term "catfishing" became popularized.
> However,
> > the 2010 film "Catfish" played a pivotal role in bringing the term and
> its
> > associated concept into widespread public consciousness.
> >
> > It's also worth noting that the metaphor of using catfish to attract
> other
> > fish has existed for centuries. Some sources trace the analogy back to
> > 17th-century England, where catfish were used to stir ponds and make
> other
> > fish more active. In this sense, the application of the catfish metaphor
> to
> > online deception adds a layer of irony, implying that the deceptive
> online
> > persona aims to "stir up" interest and engagement from unsuspecting
> > individuals.
> >
> > So, while "Catfish" the film may be the earliest definitive reference to
> > the
> > term in its current meaning, the underlying concept has been explored and
> > alluded to in various forms for quite some time.
> >
> > -----Mensagem original-----
> > De: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] Em nome de
> > Shapiro, Fred
> > Enviada em: domingo, 7 de janeiro de 2024 10:01
> > Para: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Assunto: Slang Sense of "Catfishing"
> >
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> > Subject:      Slang Sense of "Catfishing"
> >
> >
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ---
> >
> > "Catfishing" is a slang term for "The practice of creating a fictional
> > onli=
> > ne persona intending to lure a person into a false relationship."  I
> would
> > =
> > welcome any information as to early print occurrences of this term, and
> > als=
> > o early print occurrences of the related term "catfish," both as noun and
> > v=
> > erb.
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


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