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  • Frank [he/him, he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    I use it all the time to describe, well, shills - Formally a person who is paid to support or endorse a product while pretending to be a neutral bystander, although these days lots of people do it for free. I tend to use it in the sense of "X is shilling for Y", ie someone is supporting a product or group or whatever in a way that is dishonest about their motives, or in a way that is pathetic considering they're not getting paid.

    I had actually thought it was from Yiddish but apparently the etymology is unknown and it entered the lexicon from carny trade talk about a century agoOne

    One that does put my eyebrows up is "Shyster". It doesn't necessarily mean a Jewish lawyer, but if someone's not from the East Coast and knows "Shyster" it puts my neck hairs up. Apparently there is no anti-Semitic etymology to it and it probably derrives from the German word " Scheißer", ie shitter, one who shits. I'm not even sure if it's widely known or used by fash. But it puts my hair up.

    • Retrosound [none/use name]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Shills, i.e. paid internet posters, are pretty easy to spot. Just look for anyone who posts in defense of the powerful. Especially when you've just delivered a stinging indictment of the powerful. Anyone who replies "Biden is a good guy, see?" is probably being paid. Or a bot. Either way, super sus.