A media article on trolling that did not make me want to stab my eyes out

[Triple Zero]

These must be those "neg hits" I've been hearing so much about.

[Cainad (dec.)]

Ooooh, he even got the etymology right! Everyone thinks it's troll as in a troll under the bridge, but it's troll as in trolling for fish... pronounced trawling.

Actually, trolling and trawling are two completely different things when it comes to fishing. Trolling is a recreational fishing method of dragging a line at very slow speed (usually 2kts or less) with one or more hooks on it using bait or lures, whereas trawling is a commercial fishing method of dragging a large net behind the boat either on the bottom or at a pre-determined depth depending on what the intended catch is.

(ETA: /pedant)

Sweet, thanks for clearing that up! I know as much about fishing as Fox News does about internet trolling, so I never knew which was which.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I remember the first time I heard the term "trolling" to describe a behavior; my mom used it in the early 80's in reference to a guy at the bar she worked at, only he was "trolling for a date".

Nowadays, trolling for a date is somewhat different.

"That's a nice dress you're wearing....I hear that style was very popular in Hitler's Germany."

Nice shoes!  Did you take them off a dead Jew?

The both of you.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Ooooh, he even got the etymology right! Everyone thinks it's troll as in a troll under the bridge, but it's troll as in trolling for fish... pronounced trawling.

Actually, trolling and trawling are two completely different things when it comes to fishing. Trolling is a recreational fishing method of dragging a line at very slow speed (usually 2kts or less) with one or more hooks on it using bait or lures, whereas trawling is a commercial fishing method of dragging a large net behind the boat either on the bottom or at a pre-determined depth depending on what the intended catch is.

(ETA: /pedant)

So, I wasn't familiar with trawling, but my uncle used to take me trolling, and pronounced it with a short o, which is really confusing. He was a Puget Sound fisherman.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Also we used to go smelting, and I have recently learned that candlefish rarely run anymore and are nearly extinct.

[East Coast Hustle]

Ooooh, he even got the etymology right! Everyone thinks it's troll as in a troll under the bridge, but it's troll as in trolling for fish... pronounced trawling.

Actually, trolling and trawling are two completely different things when it comes to fishing. Trolling is a recreational fishing method of dragging a line at very slow speed (usually 2kts or less) with one or more hooks on it using bait or lures, whereas trawling is a commercial fishing method of dragging a large net behind the boat either on the bottom or at a pre-determined depth depending on what the intended catch is.

(ETA: /pedant)

So, I wasn't familiar with trawling, but my uncle used to take me trolling, and pronounced it with a short o, which is really confusing. He was a Puget Sound fisherman.

Probably just another case of the already-complicated English language overcomplicating itself further with different regional dialects. Everywhere I go I'm always getting confused by words that mean slightly different things in different parts of the country, or words that mean the same thing but are pronounced and/or spelled slightly differently. Which somewhat inadvertently leads back to the topic at hand in the OP, i.e. the speed with which terminology gets muddled when it moves from a niche subculture to the world-at-large.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Ooooh, he even got the etymology right! Everyone thinks it's troll as in a troll under the bridge, but it's troll as in trolling for fish... pronounced trawling.

Actually, trolling and trawling are two completely different things when it comes to fishing. Trolling is a recreational fishing method of dragging a line at very slow speed (usually 2kts or less) with one or more hooks on it using bait or lures, whereas trawling is a commercial fishing method of dragging a large net behind the boat either on the bottom or at a pre-determined depth depending on what the intended catch is.

(ETA: /pedant)

So, I wasn't familiar with trawling, but my uncle used to take me trolling, and pronounced it with a short o, which is really confusing. He was a Puget Sound fisherman.

Probably just another case of the already-complicated English language overcomplicating itself further with different regional dialects. Everywhere I go I'm always getting confused by words that mean slightly different things in different parts of the country, or words that mean the same thing but are pronounced and/or spelled slightly differently. Which somewhat inadvertently leads back to the topic at hand in the OP, i.e. the speed with which terminology gets muddled when it moves from a niche subculture to the world-at-large.

That makes sense.