It’s early and not too many people are up and on the forum. As my thoughts often do in the early morning when the household is quiet and the forum is dead, my thoughts drift to random things.
Where do they come up with some of these internet and video game terms?
When I think of my first introduction to the word ‘Troll’ it was primarily referring to a nasty creature, who often lived under a bridge, that waylaid travelers for money.
Now, it’s almost exclusively used to talk about someone on the internet who posts things to anger or upset others in some way.
Smurfs used to be little blue pixie like creatures with white hats.
Smurfs have evolved in online gaming to mean someone who uses a second account, often pretending to be someone else.
Grinding used to be something you might do to pepper.
Now it has something to do with repetitive acts to increase stats or acquire money/items/etc
Nerf used to be a company that made soft toys like footballs and such.
Now it has something to do with making a character less powerful for game balance.
Anyway, just thinking about the evolution of these terms and how some of them seem so different from their original meaning.
If I were you, I wouldnt take it for granted that in 20 years your words will mean the same thing they do now.
If you tell a young person that a troll is living under a bridge these days, they may not picture a mythological creature but instead a geeky guy with a laptop under a bridge, tuning into free wifi to make people angry.
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