Information AboutFanspeak |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT FANSPEAK | |
| fandom | |
| language varieties and styles | |
| science fiction fandom | |
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Fanspeak is made up of Acronym s, blended words, obscure in-jokes, Pun s, coinages from science fiction novels or films, and archaic or standard English words used in specific ways relevant or amusing to the science fiction community. EVOLUTION Many terms used in fanspeak have spread to members of the Society For Creative Anachronism , Renaissance Fair participants, and Internet Gaming and Chat Fan s, due to the social and contextual intersection between the communities. Common examples of widespread usages are:
A few fannish terms have become standard English, such as Fanzine , short for "fan maga'''zine'''", coined by Russ Chauvenet in 1940 , which swiftly replaced the older term ''fanmag''. Conversely, some fannish terms have become obsolete due to changes in technology (the decline of the mimeograph has doomed ''corflu'' for "correction fluid") or the mere passage of time (''slan shack'' for "a house where a bunch of fans live together" will fade since few younger fans have read ''Slan'' by A.E. Van Vogt ). Fanspeak is so interwoven into the fabric of fandom that it is difficult to discuss fandom without resorting to fannish terms such as ''fanac'' "fannish activity" or '' Filk Music '' (originally a typo for "folk music"). Other terms frequently encountered include:
(For more terms, see the links to glossaries, below.) SOCIOLOGY Like other forms of jargon, fanspeak serves as a means of inclusion and exclusion within the fannish community. In the 1970s , the use of traditional fanspeak separated the Fanzine and Convention-attending subcommunity (sometimes distinguished as ''trufen'' or "true fans") from fans of science fiction movies and television shows (''mediafen''). (Note that the division of the community into trufen and others is rejected by many fans as inherently unfannish; for example, see entry "trufan" at http://stilyagi.org/fanspeak.html). Today, subsets of fanspeak define subcommunities within fandom. For example, ''ringers'' for "fans of The Lord Of The Rings " is used primarily by fans of the Peter Jackson films (see also Tolkien Fandom ). EXTERNAL LINKS
Glossaries
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