I guess it’s like “hacking.” In the good old days, a “hacker” was a particularly clever software developer, now it’s someone who breaks into computers.
Hacking into a system is like hacking your way through a door to steal stuff. Hacking around hardware or software limitations to get what you want is creative and more similar to creating furniture with an axe, you’re doing things the tool was never meant to do, and doing it incrementally until you get the desired result.
I’ve been online since usenet. I try to use the current meaning of words. I fully understand that trolling has been coopted by bad faith actors.
Originally it was a fun little bit of sarcasm or an inside joke that became a proto meme or some copypasta to share around.
Now it’s a path to the US presidency.
I guess it’s like “hacking.” In the good old days, a “hacker” was a particularly clever software developer, now it’s someone who breaks into computers.
Can we please stop ruining the good words?
Hacking is using something in a manner in which it was unintended by hacking parts of it, as with an axe.
Good discussion of it here with etymological references.
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/70658/what-does-the-word-hacking-or-hacker-come-from
Exactly!
Hacking into a system is like hacking your way through a door to steal stuff. Hacking around hardware or software limitations to get what you want is creative and more similar to creating furniture with an axe, you’re doing things the tool was never meant to do, and doing it incrementally until you get the desired result.