I've seen these two words used over and over.

Can anyone tell me what a "shill" is?

How about a "troll?"

Thankyou

-- trying (to@figure.itout), August 01, 1999

Answers

Also, what's a "sheeple?"

-- trying (to@figure.itout), August 01, 1999.

I'm new here too and would like to know what OT and those other initials mean

-- FOX (ardrinc@aol.com), August 01, 1999.

I think OT means off topic.

-- trying (to@figure.itout), August 01, 1999.

A shill is someone who is promoting a view for financial gain without making this known (from the use by snake oil salesmen of "satisfied customers" in the audience, who were actually paid by the salesmen). A troll is someone whose purpose is not to discuss the issues but to disrupt the discussion with irrelevancies and personal attacks.

-- Steve Heller (stheller@koyote.com), August 01, 1999.

Sheeple is a term combining "sheep" and "people". It refers to the fact that most people follow others' leads blindly rather than thinking for themselves.

-- Steve Heller (stheller@koyote.com), August 01, 1999.

Thankyou. Does the word schill/shill come from schilling?

-- trying (to@figure.itout), August 01, 1999.

My dictionary says that shill is probably short for shillaber, a decoy or imposter, and that the origin of shillaber is obscure.

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), August 01, 1999.

Many of the people who post material that agrees with the conventional wisdom here are shills in one form or another. Many of the people who post material that disagrees with the conventional wisdom found here are trolls in one form or another.

-- Helpful Henry (trying@to.help), August 01, 1999.

Henry is a variant of a long-time troll, Jimmy Bagga Doughnuts, who achived notoriety for vindictiveness. The same trolls tend to morph and post under several aliases, as their moods and strategies strike.

-- they pop up (jack@inthe.box), August 01, 1999.

Here's the "shill" entry from the Oxford English Dictionary: shill (___), n. slang (chiefly N. Amer.). [Perh. abbrev. of shillaber.] A decoy or accomplice, esp. one posing as an enthusiastic or successful customer to encourage other buyers, gamblers, etc. 1916 Editor 2 Dec. 518/2 Shill, copper:One who leads the others by patronizing a show or game. 1926 Amer. Mercury Dec. 466/1 A wrestler..offered to throw anyone for 500 smacks and a couple of shills accepted his defy. 1935 H. Davis Honey in Horn xv. 231 She had often thought of renting him out as a shill for some tent-show evangelist. 1955 T. Sterling Evil of Day xxi. 208, I used to be a shill in a Reno gambling club. 1971 J. Gray Red Lights vi. 136 The commonest trap was for a shill to haunt Ninth Avenue disguised as a farm hand. 1978 M. Puzo Fools Die ii. 19 As a shill she played with casino money... She was subject not to fate but to the fixed weekly salary she received from the casino.

-- Steve Heller (stheller@koyote.com), August 01, 1999.

Seems like its time to update and repost the Y2k forum glossary. I'll have it up later today. ;-)

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), August 01, 1999.