Describes the behavior of a program that malfunctions and goes
catatonic, but doesn't actually {crash} or abort. See {glitch},
{bug}, {deep space}, {wedged}.
This term is much older than computing, and is (uncommon) slang
elsewhere. A trolley is the small wheel that trolls, or runs against,
the heavy wire that carries the current to run a streetcar. It's at
the end of the long pole (the trolley pole) that reaches from the
roof of the streetcar to the overhead line. When the trolley stops
making contact with the wire (from passing through a switch, going
over bumpy track, or whatever), the streetcar comes to a halt,
(usually) without crashing. The streetcar is then said to be off the
trolley, or off the wire. Later on, trolley came to mean the
streetcar itself. Since streetcars became common in the 1890s, the
term is more than 100 years old. Nowadays, trolleys are only seen on
historic streetcars, since modern streetcars use pantographs to
contact the wire.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {deep space}]