With online communication being predominant today what is the collective word that describes accusations, generalizations, insults in people’s comments? It is not a behavior or conduct since no actual physical activity take place. I want to say for example, “people who engage in such ?????...are...” “Mental activity” is the only thing that I came up with.
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Why does you definition of behaviour not include online activity? After all "online behaviour" is a common enough ideom?– Jiminy Cricket.Commented Apr 10, 2020 at 12:02
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Look in a thesaurus for behavior or conduct.– MitchCommented Apr 10, 2020 at 12:18
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The way I understand behavior, one has to physically do something, yell, break, jump etc. Accusations, generalizations and insults are abstract concepts.– Mac BookCommented Apr 10, 2020 at 12:19
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People who engage in “ insulting, accusing, generalizing” are ...whatever. I want to replace “insulting, accusing, generalizing” with a collective word(s)– Mac BookCommented Apr 10, 2020 at 12:27
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1You're overlooking the fact that insults etc. need to be communicated through physical activity - spoken, typed, whatever. And the general word for what you're describing could be slander.– SteveCommented Apr 10, 2020 at 13:10
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1 Answer
I want to say for example, “people who engage in such trolling...are...”
OED:
Draft additions March 2006
Troll (v.) intransitive. Computing slang. To post a deliberately erroneous or antagonistic message on a newsgroup or similar forum with the intention of eliciting a hostile or corrective response. Also transitive: to elicit such a response from (a person); to post messages of this type to (a newsgroup, etc.).
1992 Re: Post the FAQ in alt.folklore.urban (Usenet newsgroup) 8 Oct. Maybe after I post it, we could go trolling some more and see what happens.
2005 B. McWilliams Spam Kings iii. 69 Once, after a spammer trolled Nanae, accusing antis of having no life, Mad Pierre sarcastically responded that the spammer was correct.
Probably from the angling/fishing term "to troll"
V. Senses relating to angling.
- Angling. intransitive. To angle with a running line (? originally with the line running on a ‘troll’ or winch); (also transitive) to fish (water) in this way;
[See also] v. 10a, 10b; (c) (in U.S. and Scottish use, perhaps through association with trail or trawl) to trail a baited line behind a boat; also figurative.In quot. 1606 perhaps confused with trawl n and v.
1606 S. Gardiner Bk. Angling 28 Consider how God by his Preachers trowleth for thee.
1891 A. Lang Angling Sketches 5 Trolling a minnow from a boat in Loch Leven—probably the lowest possible form of angling.
1966 ‘E. Lindall’ Time too Soon iv. 51 Kamindo had rebuffed him when he had trolled for information.
answered Apr 10, 2020 at 13:42
