Thing To Do Today: troll.

Deck the hall with boughs of holly
Fa la la la lah la la la la!
'Tis the season to be jolly
Fa la la la lah la la la la!
Don we now our gay apparel
Fa la la, la la la, la la lah!
Troll the ancient Christmas carol
Fa la la la laaah la la la la!

This post is about trolling, but now I'm wondering what gay apparel looks like...and if it's really an entirely sensible thing to recommend.

Ah well, it would probably serve to broaden one's experience. And it is the season for goodwill to all men, after all.

Anyway, trolling. Nowadays this tends to mean being nasty to people via the internet, but originally the internet term meant to make controversial statements in order to get a reaction - which is, of course, the very essence of any Christmas get-together.

Ah well.

Trolling can also mean to search systematically for something, as in Mum was carefully trolling the guests for opportunities to off-load some curried salmon canapes.

These sorts of trolling are to do with trolling's older meaning of fishing by trailing a baited line along behind a boat.

The sort of trolling in the carol, though, means to sing in an enthusiastic and carefree sort of a way.

I don't say it'll make you popular, but if you're going to sing then that's the way to do it.

Happy Christmas!

Thing To Do Today: troll. All these words come from the Old French troller, to run about.