Like the title says, what do you understand about the meanings of the popular terms "pwn" and "trolling"?

Myself, I always read the term "pwn" as "pawn" & believed it to be a chess analogy. I think it comes from first person shooters & it's when you beat someone so badly you make them appear like a pawn a game of chess, weak, totally expendable & basically cannon fodder.

But I've heard people pronounce it like "pown". What does that mean, it's not even a proper word?
I can sort of understand the "own" part of it, then what does the 'p' mean? 'Power-owned'?

Trolling I've always taken to be a fishing analogy. Trolling is a type of fishing where you tow a baited hook or lure behind a boat with the hope of catching whatever fish will bite. That makes perfect sense comparing it to forum misuse, you make a inflammatory statement in the hope someone will take the bate & bite.
It's like you're statements are a baited hook which you 'troll' through the forums.

From what I've read, most people use it as a mythology analogy, as in the ceature, Troll. But how is making inflammatory statements like lurking under a bridge challenging Billy Goats?

Also if it refers to the mythical creature, then trolling doesn't make sense as a word, I mean you wouldn't refer to living in caves & warring with Dwarves and Elves as "Orcing" (well, Orks would, but that's beside the point) or flying around, breathing fire & fighting Knights as "Dragoning", so why say trolling if someone is acting like a Troll?

I know that these sort of things probably not supposed to be analysed in depth, just accepted, but still, it's been bugging me for years & I'd be interested to hear other people's opinions & interpretations.

Well, when it comes to 'pwn', according to Wikipedia at least, it is a corruption of 'own', as many users accidentally hit the 'p' instead of the 'o' during fast typing.

I could go on about trolling, but I am weary.

Pwn got it's start as p-owned, or pistol owned. Basically was a way of mocking someone for killing them, usually quite proficiently, with the weaker sidearm.

And troll is a term I actually don't know the history of, although it's likely meant to suggest the origins were of shady sort, people who normally hide under dark places, only popping up to cause trouble and leave unscathed, I guess?

Hrm...

EDIT
In this thread, countless theories about the history and origin of pwn. Mine's just place I saw remarking on the history. Come to think of it, I couldn't verify the authenticity. Ah well, historical theorists, put on your tin-foil hats!

well, im proficient in pwnography but this "trolling" term ive never heard it.
perhaps its when you grow fat, green and lumpy; swinging large clumps of wood around sounds like fun and you see eating bricks as a delicassy

I'll study into it...
(after my milk and cookies)

Pwn came from a custom Warcraft 3 map where the creator misspelled owned. When you were beat by the other guy a message came up saying "Pwned by *user*"

Im not sure where Trolling came from but it means when someone goes out of their way to start an argument/piss someone off on forums.

Wikipedia states the following:

The contemporary use of the term is alleged to have first appeared on the internet in the late 1980s, but the earliest known example is from 1991. It is thought to be a truncation of the phrase trolling for suckers, itself derived from the fishing technique known as trolling. The word also evokes the trolls portrayed in Scandinavian folklore and children's tales; they are often obnoxious creatures bent on mischief and wickedness. The verb "troll" originates from Old French "troller", a hunting term. The noun "troll", however, is an unrelated Old Norse word for a giant or demon.

Here is a little old school smiley: i-=<**** (this of course works better with older fonts)
meaning: The poster has flamethrower.
Flamewars were the thing we had before trolls arrived.

flatearth:
Wikipedia states the following:

The contemporary use of the term is alleged to have first appeared on the internet in the late 1980s, but the earliest known example is from 1991. It is thought to be a truncation of the phrase trolling for suckers, itself derived from the fishing technique known as trolling. The word also evokes the trolls portrayed in Scandinavian folklore and children's tales; they are often obnoxious creatures bent on mischief and wickedness. The verb "troll" originates from Old French "troller", a hunting term. The noun "troll", however, is an unrelated Old Norse word for a giant or demon.

Here is a little old school smiley: i-=<**** (this of course works better with older fonts)
meaning: The poster has flamethrower.
Flamewars were the thing we had before trolls arrived.

Bastard, beat me to it.
*steals Abemaster's cookies and runs*

These days pwn is really only used by elitist gamers who's only joy in life comes from wanking it to their score in a video game, and thinks being basically a nobody in CPL makes them infinitely better than everyone else who isn't in CPL. So basically it now translates to "I don't get laid and have no self-esteem."

Troll is now basically meaningless since now anyone who has a different opinion from the majority is 'so obviously a troll' since they aren't running with the bandwagon. Much like pwn Troll essentially is now a worthless term that means "I concede that you are of such a superior intellect that I cannot possibly hope to match wits with you and will now just write you off."

Well, thanks for the replies so far. I've got to get ready for a long day of college now, so I won't be able to view this comment any more for about 15 hours.

I don't want you to think I'm just putting this topic out there & ignoring it, perhaps like a "troll".

zen5887:

Im not sure where Trolling came from but it means when someone goes out of their way to start an argument/piss someone off on forums.

so i wasn't far off?

Actually you wouldn't be trolling. You'd be trying to badge grind. :D

TOGSolid:
Actually you wouldn't be trolling. You'd be trying to badge grind. :D

What does that mean?
i'm not fluent in escapist slang

The Abemaster:

TOGSolid:
Actually you wouldn't be trolling. You'd be trying to badge grind. :D

What does that mean?
i'm not fluent in escapist slang

Trying to get a thread to enough views/posts so the thread earns some of the more difficult badges.

I don't know the history behind the words, but I understand the meanings as:

Pwn - to beat down completely into submission.

Troll - using either manipulation or stupidity to get responses. In essence, a false thread meant to incite conflict/responses. Bonus points are had when posters make large text walls.

NewClassic:
Pwn got it's start as p-owned, or pistol owned. Basically was a way of mocking someone for killing them, usually quite proficiently, with the weaker sidearm.

And troll is a term I actually don't know the history of, although it's likely meant to suggest the origins were of shady sort, people who normally hide under dark places, only popping up to cause trouble and leave unscathed, I guess?

Hrm...

Pwn had its origins in warcraft, where a programming error had the word 'pwned' appear instead of 'owned' in a box, i believe it was meant to say 'player X has been owned' or something like that.

Trolling does indeed mean what the OP specified, but here on the escapist we take it further. A 'troll' is someone who 'trolls' or partakes in 'trolling'. We have a joke of personifying trolls as the creatures of legend that fantasies like LOTR portray.

Its a way of taking the piss out of a troll while simultaneously taking the ammunition out of his barrel.

Notable trolling styles include: Deliberate misspells, overtly annoying tones or actions, feigned stance on a topic (such as pro-abortion on a left-wing website) or deliberate ignorance designed to extract frustrated replies or angry responses.

All bases have been covered and questions answered. Thread defeated, 300xp to all involved.

Ultrajoe:

Pwn had its origins in warcraft, where a programming error had the word 'pwned' appear instead of 'owned' in a box, i believe it was meant to say 'player X has been owned' or something like that.

Thats the one =D

zen5887:

Ultrajoe:

Pwn had its origins in warcraft, where a programming error had the word 'pwned' appear instead of 'owned' in a box, i believe it was meant to say 'player X has been owned' or something like that.

Thats the one =D

Make that 450xp and a skill point for a flawless victory then.

Ultrajoe:
Make that 450xp and a skill point for a flawless victory then.

Ding!

*gets out his trusty #2 pencil and makes the appropriate leveling adjustments on his character sheet*

Back in my day, we didn't have these magical machines or tubes or words like this!
When they did come around, however, it was originally own, but them darn kids always typed too fast and hit the "p" key instead of the "o"!

TaborMallory:
Back in my day, we didn't have these magical machines or tubes or words like this!
When they did come around, however, it was originally own, but them darn kids always typed too fast and hit the "p" key instead of the "o"!

We already had this out, we know where it came from... why didn't you read the posts before you?

TaborMallory:
Back in my day, we didn't have these magical machines or tubes or words like this!
When they did come around, however, it was originally own, but them darn kids always typed too fast and hit the "p" key instead of the "o"!

I...uh..wow...
/facepalm

Seeing as how you're doling out xp in this thread Ultrajoe, I'd suggest a negative level for this guy.

http://www.criticalmiss.com/issue9/troll1.html

Some information on how trolls work, and if you're enough of a scumbag, how to be one.

RAKtheUndead:
http://www.criticalmiss.com/issue9/troll1.html

Some information on how trolls work, and if you're enough of a scumbag, how to be one.

I know how to troll, its easy.

1) Go to 4chan
2) Put up a picture of Master Chief
3) Call him 'halo'
4) Everyone gets mad at you for attempting such a pathetic troll
5) Subtle troll is Subtle

Hey, you never know, man. They may someday forget that "halo is a pretty cool guy who doesn't afraid of anything."

Eiseman:
Hey, you never know, man. They may someday forget that "halo is a pretty cool guy who doesn't afraid of anything."

that, my friend, makes it a troll that Can never fail!

I'm fairly certain I recall the term "pwn" and all it's variations since before WC3...

Ultrajoe:

TaborMallory:
Back in my day, we didn't have these magical machines or tubes or words like this!
When they did come around, however, it was originally own, but them darn kids always typed too fast and hit the "p" key instead of the "o"!

We already had this out, we know where it came from... why didn't you read the posts before you?

Somebody already said your answer as well, so relax man.

stinkychops:

Ultrajoe:

TaborMallory:
Back in my day, we didn't have these magical machines or tubes or words like this!
When they did come around, however, it was originally own, but them darn kids always typed too fast and hit the "p" key instead of the "o"!

We already had this out, we know where it came from... why didn't you read the posts before you?

Somebody already said your answer as well, so relax man.

Oh, i'm relaxed.

I thought i was more right than the post before me, i might not be though.

How the hell did that come across as not relaxed?

I always assumed troll was a misused version of the word 'trawl' as a troll typically 'trawls' internet forums looking for a response.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pwn

:)

'Owning' has been around for ever. I remember mass own-age on Red Alert 1 over dial-up back when that first came out. When the net became more popular to the casual user, some felt they needed to make it look like they weren't new to it so they came up with some new cool net talk. Calling anyone who'd only been online 5 minutes a noob took the attention away from the fact that they themselves had only been net users for a couple of weeks (or something).

I never really use these 'cool' phrases because I'm already pretty cool :P

Most of the people that do are the type that mocked me at school for being a web user. It was 'geeky' or whatever to chat to people on msn and now you're an 'epic fail' if you DON'T have the net on about 3 different devices.

Take your attempted cool phrases and acronyms elsewhere please, I liked surfing the 'geeky 90's internet' thanks very much.

dannydamage:
Most of the people that do are the type that mocked me at school for being a web user. It was 'geeky' or whatever to chat to people on msn and now you're an 'epic fail' if you DON'T have the net on about 3 different devices.

I love the irony of this, although I was never mocked directly about being a net-nerd, probably because they were just astounded that I could use a computer - it was other things that I was mocked for.

But now, even though I'm even more of a net-nerd, people actually listen to me (to some extent) when I start rambling on about computers. I think it's freakin' hilarious.

is this guy serious?

pwn was originally a typo of "own", by Cstrike Cokefiends, and they laughed at their stupidity so much, that it became a meme, and spread like wildfire. Its pronunciation is moot as it exists only in online context, but if you MUST verbalize your retardedness, "own" or "pown" are probably the most correct pronunciations.

From what I've read, most people use it as a mythology analogy, as in the ceature, Troll. But how is making inflammatory statements like lurking under a bridge challenging Billy Goats?

The anonymity of the internet is the protection the bridge provides. I'd say making inflammatory statements on an internet forum is exactly like a troll sitting under a bridge shouting at innocent goats, who make like sheep, and bleat until they're red in the face.

Pwn is simply a common typo made when typing of the word own.

Trolling, sometimes flaimbaiter or baiter for short, is a forum specific term that originated on Usenet probably shortly after the first post. It has been summarized pretty well in some of the posts above. I personally feel that the core characteristic of a troll (a post not a person) is that the poster has willful intent to get other people to engage him in an extreme manner.

There you go, I thought pwn was a abbreviation of player-own, as it tends to get used in PvP. My ignorance is corrected!

wilsonscrazybed:
...(a post not a person) is that the poster has willful intent to get other people to engage him in an extreme manner.

Hence The Great Hunt. It's all part of the circle of life and killing people online.