rickroll
Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- verb (verb) To coax one into clicking on a hyperlink which leads to something other than what is claimed, originating with YouTube videos of Rick Astley's song 'Never Gonna Give You Up.'
Examples
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Tom Dalzell was thrilled last month when he came across a weird new verb: 'rickroll.' Then he went online and saw that 'rickrolling'—the Internet prank that involves sending someone a link to the music video for Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up'—has been around for four years. That's an eon in the world of slang, enough time to render a term stale.
As Slang Changes More Rapidly, Expert Has to Watch His Language
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'I find it bonkers, by the way!' That's Rick Astley in his tribute to moot, as part of the Time 100 package. He's specifically referring to the the Obama rickroll video, but I think it applies in general.
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The White House is said to have 'rickrolled' one of its Twitter followers who complained about a correspondence briefing being too boring. "@wiggsd Sorry to hear that. Fiscal policy is important, but can be dry sometimes. Here's something more fun: tinyurl.com/y8ufsnp #WHChat," the New York Daily News quoted the White House tweet as saying.
White House 'rickrolls' Twitter follower who complained about boring briefing, Newstrack India
Note
'Rickrolling' may be a variant of an earlier prank from 4chan known as 'duckrolling,' in which a link would lead to a picture of a duck with wheels. The first known instance of a 'rickroll' occurred in May 2007 on /v/, 4chan's video game board.
