A Very Important Question About Election Vocabulary

Friends, I have a (semi) serious question. Can anyone remember hearing the word “shill” — as in “Hillary Clinton is a corporate shill and I will never vote for her even if the alternative is oompa loompa Hilter” —before this election?

As far as I can tell, this word— which just happens to bear a more than striking resemblance to the sexist adjective “shrill” — has been resurrected from obscurity for the sole purpose of insulting Hillary Clinton.

But of course, this is just my anecdotal observation, which is completely unreliable. Let’s engage in some ultra-scientific data collection, shall we?

Raise your hand if you:

1. Heard or read the word “shill” before the beginning of the current election cycle; AND
2. It was not being used to refer to Hillary Clinton

Bonus points if you can actually link to a pre-2015 source.

GO.