James Baquet

    Ming sees his friend Mark carrying a surfboard through the common room of their dorm.

    Ming: Hi, Mark. Where are you going?

    Mark: Oh, I’m just going surfing.

    Ming: Surfing? But where’s your laptop? And what’s that big thing you’re carrying?

    Mark: What’s this — Oh, Ming! I don’t mean I’m going to surf the Internet. I mean I’m going to surf on waves on the ocean!

    Ming: I don’t know what that means.

    Mark: Well, I run into the sea with this thing — called a “surfboard” — pushing it ahead of me. Once I get through the rough part, I get on it and use my hands to move forward.

    Ming: Like a dog swims?

    Mark: That’s right. That’s called “paddling.” Then I turn it around and wait. When the right wave comes, I stand up and ride on the board back to the shore. That’s the original meaning of “surfing.”

    Ming: So why do we use “surfing” to describe looking around on the Internet?

    Mark: Surfing, or web-surfing, is moving around quickly and just looking lightly at what’s available. It’s a little bit like just touching the tops of the waves.

    Ming: Really?

    Mark: Yeah! Before the Internet, we said that someone who was frequently changing channels on the TV, without really watching anything, was “channel surfing.”

    Ming: Weird.

    Mark: Actually, there are lots of old words that have taken on new meanings on the Internet.

    Ming: What’s another one?

    Mark: Well, we used to use “friend” as a verb. But we stopped doing that centuries ago, and just used it as a noun.

    Ming: “He’s my friend.”

    Mark: Right. But now we use it when we connect with someone on social media, like WeChat.

    Ming: Oh, yeah. Weixin! I love it! I have lots of friends there.

    Mark: So now “friend” and “unfriend” mean to connect with someone or drop them.

    Ming: I see. Another?

    Mark: Do you know what a troll is?

    Ming: One of those creepy little things that lives under a bridge?

    Mark: Could be! But nowadays it’s a creepy person who says rude things and tries to get you angry.

    Ming: I’ve had that happen a couple of times. I hate it!

    Mark: Me, too. Some people say that you shouldn’t ever argue with trolls. As soon as you answer them, they’ve already won the argument by making you take their bait.

    Ming: Like a fish!

    Mark: Right. In fact, “troll” might also refer to the action of “trolling,” which is dragging bait through the water until a fish bites it.

    Ming: That makes sense. They’re just hoping to get you to “bite.”

    Mark: You got it. Listen, Ming, I have to get going.