Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 October 29

= October 29 =

Trolling / Spamming
Would anybody know the specific term for when in a thread of a forum a group appears and garbages it quickly up with lots of simplistic messages so that relatively few quality messages (which apparently are against the ideas of the spammers/trolls) can hardly be found. Would be glad if anybody can help. Cheers, 202.87.166.165 (talk) 09:00, 29 October 2021 (UTC)
 * We would term that, among other things, a forum invasion. -- zzuuzz (talk) 09:05, 29 October 2021 (UTC)


 * There's sockpuppetry and meatpuppetry, for a group made up of either one person using multiple identities or multiple people coordinating offsite. That describes the group rather than their behaviour, which I don't know a particular name for other than spam.--2A00:23C8:4583:9F01:3100:F932:7729:2EDF (talk) 10:26, 29 October 2021 (UTC)


 * The closest thing I can think of is that the described behavior is a milder, more social version of a Denial-of-service attack. -- Jayron 32 11:51, 29 October 2021 (UTC)


 * "Crapflooding"... AnonMoos (talk) 07:40, 30 October 2021 (UTC)
 * The term is red-linked in our article Sporgery, but the verb to crapflood has an entry on Wiktionary. --Lambiam 12:58, 30 October 2021 (UTC)


 * It would depend on what the purpose of the activity was. If it were some lonely, unhappy individual with no life whose purpose is to cause disruption/irritation/strife amongst others, then it is trolling. If it is meant to be promotional in nature (even in the most broadest of senses), then it is spamming. The line between the two concepts is somewhat fuzzy, and it is not always entirely clear when someone is a troll or a spammer; thus, the two terms are sometimes conflated (in particular "spamming" is often used by layfolk when the activity they're referring to would more accurately be called trolling). AFAIK, both terms sprang up more or less in the same time and space: Usenet in the '80s :). 2600:1702:4960:1DE0:89E2:777A:FA44:21A4 (talk) 06:37, 2 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Oh, and also, in very informal usage, "spamming" can be used in a very broad sense to describe any kind of activity that floods a space with an obnoxious volume of material, with very little to no substance. This can include even an individual "spamming" another person with a flood of text messages, filled with, say, nothing but emojis and like or memes. In that sense it only describes the pattern of the activity and is neutral as to the purpose. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1702:4960:1DE0:89E2:777A:FA44:21A4 (talk) 06:49, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

Stamps
On my desk, I have some postage stamps and a date stamp. Why does English use the same word for both? 2601:18A:C500:C00:DC7F:4998:B2C5:6CB8 (talk) 09:27, 29 October 2021 (UTC)
 * The word origin might clarify it: ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 09:39, 29 October 2021 (UTC)
 * See also Postage stamp. Martinevans123 (talk) 09:40, 29 October 2021 (UTC)


 * As can be seen above, originally, stamps were applied directly to letters to be mailed. This was an inefficient system as it required the letter to be physically stamped by the postal agent.  The system is described in some detail at London Penny Post which describes how it works.  The stamp was later applied to adhesive paper so that customers could pre-purchase the stamps and apply them themselves (see Penny Black).  While the stamp originally meant the process of applying ink to paper as we usually understand it, the definition got transferred to the adhesive paper itself.  -- Jayron 32 12:19, 29 October 2021 (UTC)


 * Yes, and then we also got franking, which is different to the stamp (named after the stamping) and is on top of the stamp. Martinevans123 (talk) 12:30, 29 October 2021 (UTC)


 * Words like franking are common internationally, though, while the sense of postage stamp seems to be unique to English. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 18:08, 29 October 2021 (UTC)


 * Um, franking is an English word? Martinevans123 (talk) 18:27, 29 October 2021 (UTC)


 * Spanish has es:sello and es:sello postal. --Amble (talk) 19:17, 29 October 2021 (UTC)
 * The English literal translation being "seal". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:00, 29 October 2021 (UTC)
 * As a side note, "sello" is also used for "sticker", I've seen. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 06:52, 30 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes, it's a perfectly good English word, uncommon though it may be outside philatelic circles. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:26, 29 October 2021 (UTC)
 * "Signed, sealed and delivered." And don't forget Christmas Seals and Easter Seals. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:57, 29 October 2021 (UTC)
 * I'll bet you haven't heard of the lesser-known Franking-stein's monster, a creature who wreaks havoc on unsuspecting letters. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:13, 30 October 2021 (UTC)
 * It's not very common. The general attitude among the great unwashed is, "Franking? My dear, I don't give a damn." Clarityfiend (talk) 09:53, 30 October 2021 (UTC)
 * I suspect the English verb is borrowed from German frankieren, originally meaning "to make free of duty", viz. by pre-paying the duty. The German verb is said to come from Italian francare, a verb related to the adjective franco, one of whose meanings is "free of duty". It also has this meaning in Dutch. --Lambiam 00:01, 30 October 2021 (UTC)
 * According to Collins Dictionary of the English Language (1979),, it entered English in the 13th century from Old French franc, in turn from mediaeval Latin francus, meaning free as you surmised. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.200.65.29 (talk) 12:07, 31 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Franking is a real word. Bankers use it too. Temerarius (talk) 01:51, 30 October 2021 (UTC)
 * It's become a well-known term Down Under among self-funded retirees, many of whom depend partially or entirely on receiving dividends from their franked investments (see Australian dividend imputation system). The issue came to a head in the 2019 Australian federal election when the opposition Labor Party proposed to abolish the practice of returning tax refund $$ into the pockets of investors who hadn't paid tax on those investments in the first place; while most could see the arguments put up, this was not popular even among Labor supporters, and it contributed to Labor's loss. --  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  02:19, 30 October 2021 (UTC)