A “troll” in Internet-speak (for those unfamiliar with the concept) is someone who apparently delights in squirting lighter fluid into online conversations, throwing a match, and then claiming it’s the original writer’s fault (the phrase comes from someone who is “trolling for flames,” i.e., dragging a big, juicy, inflammatory comment through a conversation to see who jumps on it and turns things into a shouting match).
The NY Times, of all places, offers an interesting guide to being a troll, though it should be noted that there is in fact a difference between being a curmudgeon or pill (being contrary in an ill-informed or crotchety fashion) and being a troll (being contrary just to get a rise out of folks), and this piece tends to mix them up. The motivations and styles of both, however, are unsubtly different; the former just being irksome and stupid, the latter being malicious.
(via Mariann)