Troll

Troll (noun / verb / slang)

(Also heard as: Trolling, Trolled, Proper troll, Feeding the troll)

Definition: A wind-up merchant who posts rubbish online just to get people angry. As a verb, it means baiting arguments or playing dumb on purpose for a laugh.

Pronunciation: /trəʊl/

Where It Comes From: It actually comes from an old fishing method where you trail a baited hook behind a moving boat to see what bites. Early forum users in the 1980s and 90s started saying people were “trolling for newbies” by posting fake questions. Throw in the fairy-tale monster under the bridge, and the name stuck for anyone who lives to stir up trouble online.

How People Actually Use It: Two main ways. There’s the harmless version, like when you wind up your mate in the group chat by pretending you don’t know who scored the winning goal. Then there’s the toxic version—people leaving nasty, provocative comments under strangers’ photos or news articles solely to kick off a massive row in the replies.

Examples in the Wild:

• “Just ignore him, mate, don’t feed the troll.”

  Translation: Don’t reply to his comments, he only wants an argument.

• “He spent twenty quid on a fake kit just to troll his brother on derby day.”

  Translation: He bought the rival team’s shirt purely to wind his brother up.

• “I thought he genuinely hated the film, but turns out he was just trolling.”

  Translation: He didn’t actually mean what he said, he was just baiting a reaction.

Similar Slang: Wind-up, Baiting, Shitposting, Rage-bait, Stirring the pot, Having someone on