TrollWord for the Wise October 19, 2006 Broadcast Topic: Troll An internet friend curious about the metaphoric troll — is one trolling or trawling when one is casting about indiscriminately for information online?
—dropped us a line asking us to tackle the topic of that intransitive verb.
(来源：2hzz.
com)Troll is the older of the two verbs; it dates to the 15th century and is believed to have an ancestor in a Middle English verb meaning to ramble; roll.
Early on, to troll was to move around; circulate; roll.
Troll also came to mean to sing or play in a jovial manner and to speak rapidly.
Then there's the troll associated with fishing.
To troll is to fish, especially by drawing a hook along or through the water with a line behind a moving boat.
Then there's trawl.
That 16th century coinage is thought to come from a Middle Dutch word meaning dragnet.
To trawl is to fish or catch fish with a trawl, a large conical net with a device for keeping its mouth open that is dragged along the sea bottom in gathering fish or other marine life.
So which is the proper word when talking about casting a wide net in the hope of capturing something useful, if not edible?
While trawl is the usual choice, the O-L-L troll also has an established transitive sense meaning to search in or at.
So one might trawl for information but troll the database.