[MR] Use of the word "Troll"

[Brett W. McCoy]

james barker wrote:

> Why do so many people have such an investment in words like troll, or 
> farspeaker, or dragon? What is wrong with using a more appropriate term?

I think it comes down to the idea that close knit groups & organizations 
will build up their own set of 'jargon' and little injokes that helps to 
set that group apart from other groups (take a look at Eric Raymond's 
'Hacker Jargon File' for an extreme example of this).  Since a lot of 
the folks in the SCA have similar mindsets to those of the hacker 
community (yes, the SCA is mentioned in the file), a lot of the folks 
enjoy the same kinds of wordplay -- and it helps to define the 
sub-culture we are in.

That said, perhaps it is more appropriate to use words like 'troll', 
'farspeaker' and 'dragon' as SCA jargon outside of our SCA event persona 
& atmosphere, and it is more appropriate to use the more period terms 
when inside the SCA event persona & atmosphere.

-- Istvan
                                           http://www.chapelperilous.net/
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Don't let people drive you crazy when you know it's in walking distance.