Appendix:Fanspeak

Fanspeak is the slang or jargon of science fiction and fantasy fandom, both current and historical, especially those terms in use among readers and writers of science fiction fanzines.

Fanspeak is made up of acronyms, blended words, obscure in-jokes, puns, 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.

List of Fanspeak terms

• actifan (plural actifans or actifen) — a fan involved in fanac
• APA — amateur press association
• apahack (plural apahacks) — one(s) who write(s) a lot for APAs
• apan — a member of an amateur press association
• apazine (plural apazines) — periodical produced for an APA
• annish (plural annishes) — anniversary issue(s)
• bacover — back cover
• baquote — quote on the back cover
• becroggle — to shock or confuse enough to cause paralysis
• BEM (plural BEMs) — Bug Eyed Monster(s)
• bheer — fannish term for "beer"
• bhoy — fannish term for "boy"
• biapan — a member of two amateur press associations
• Blog — fannish cocktail
• BNF (plural BNFs) — Big Name Fan(s); a celebrity in fandom
• clubzine (plural clubzines) — a fanzine produced by a club, primarily for its members
• COA — change of address
• completism — the practice of achieving a complete collection
• completist (plural completists) — fan(s) desiring a complete collection
• con — convention
• confan (plural confans or confen) — fan(s) primarily interested in conventions
• congoer (plural congoers) — convention attendee(s)
• congoing — attending a convention
• conreport (plural conreports) — report(s) on a convention
• conrunner (plural conrunners) — convention organiser(s)
• con crud (or concrud) — illness contracted from attending a convention
• corflu — correction fluid
• crifanac — critical fan activity (high-priority or urgent)
• croggle — to shock or confuse enough to cause paralysis
• crottled greeps — mock foodstuff
• crudzine (plural crudzines) — low-quality fanzine(s)
• degafiate — return to fandom after previously leaving
• DNQ — Do Not Quote
• Doylist — real-world perspective; explanation outside the text
• egoboo — ego boost; the feeling of seeing your name in print
• egoscan — to skim a periodical looking for your name in print
• eofan (plural eofans or eofen) — very early fan; a fan who started during Eofandom
• Eofandom — the earliest period of science fiction fandom (1930–1933)
• eyetracks — marks left on pages by reading them
• FAFIA — Forced Away From It All
• fafiate — (noun) one(s) who has/have been forced out of active fandom; (verb) to be forced away from fandom by other obligations
• fafiation — the act of being forced out of fandom; the state of having been forced out of fandom
• fan fiction — amateur fiction; fiction using elements of a media franchise
• faan (plural faans) — a fan more interested in fandom than the subject of the fandom
• faanish — of or relating to a faan
• faanishness — the quality of being a faan; behaviour consistent with being a faan
• faan fiction — fan fiction about or including fans and fandom
• fakefan (plural fakefans or fakefen) — one(s) who socialise with fans but are not themselves fans
• fanac — fandom activity (fanzines, conventions etc)
• faned (plural faneds) — fan editor(s), editor(s) of a fanzine
• fanfic — fan fiction
• fanficcer (plural fanficcers) — writer(s) of fan fiction
• fanmag (plural fanmags) — see fanzine
• fanne (plural fannes or fenne) — female fan
• fannish — of or relating to a fan/fandom
• fannishness — the quality of being a fan; behaviour consistent with being a fan
• fanzine (plural fanzines) — amateur periodical(s)
• faunch — to desire
• femme fan (plural femme fans or femme fen) — see fanne
• femfan (plural femfans or femfen) — see fanne
• fen — plural of fan
• FIAWOL — slogan: Fandom is a Way of Life
• FIJAGH — slogan: Fandom is Just a Goddamn Hobby
• filk — (adjective) fan-made science-fiction-themed folk music; (noun) piece(s) of filk music; (verb) to perform filk
• filker (plural filkers) — filk performer(s)
• filksing (plural filksings) — filk performance(s) or gathering(s)
• fillo (plural fillos) — illustration(s) used to fill space
• fmz — abbreviation: fanzine
• Foo (or FooFoo) — mock deity; a "fannish ghod"
• fugghead (plural fuggheads) — minced swear word
• fuggheaded — minced swear word
• fuggheadedness — minced swear word
• GAFIA — Getting Away From It All
• gafiate — (noun) person/people who have left fandom; (verb) to enter or leave fandom
• gafiation — the act of joining or leaving fandom; the state of entered or exited fandom
• genzine (plural genzines)
• ghod — fannish term for "god"
• ghood — fannish term for "good"
• Ghu (or GhuGhu) — mock deity; a "fannish ghod"
• GOH (or GoH) — guest of honour
• goshwow — naively overenthusiastic; possessing/invoking a sense of wonder
• goshwowboyoboy — naively overenthusiastic
• grotch — to annoy
• -h- — infix used to make words "fannish"
• ish (plural ishes) — issue(s)
• K/S — Kirk/Spock, a genre of (often erotic) fan fiction
• lettercol — section of a periodical in which letters are printed
• letterhack — one(s) who write(s) letters of comment to periodicals
• letterzine — a fanzine that is all or mostly composed of letters
• litfan (plural litfans or litfen) — fan(s) primarily interested in written science fiction
• LOC (or LoC) — Letter of Comment; letter to the editor of a science fiction magazine or fanzine
• loc — to write letters of comment
• loccer — one(s) who write(s) letters of comment to periodicals
• mediafan (plural mediafans or mediafen) — fan(s) primarily interested in film and television
• minac — (noun) minimum activity required of a fan; (verb) to not meet the minimum activity level
• multiapan — a member of many amateur press associations
• mundane (plural mundanes) — non-fan(s)
• mundania — the world outside fandom
• neofan (plural neofans or neofen) — new fan; a newbie
• neo (plural neos) — see neofan
• nextish — next issue
• omniapan — a member of all amateur press associations
• on the gripping hand — from a third point of view
• passifan (plural passifans or passifen) — a fan just interested in reading or watching science fiction and not in fanac
• personalzine (plural personalzines) — personal fanzine, produced by a single person
• perzine (plural perzines) — see personalzine
• promag (plural promags)
• prozine (plural prozines)
• pub — publish
• relaxacon (plural relaxacons) — convention with no fixed programme
• scientibook (plural scientibooks) — science fiction book
• scienticomic (plural scienticomics) — science fiction comic book
• scientificomic (plural scientificomics) — science fiction comic book
• scientifictionist (plural scientifictionists) — science fiction fan or creator
• scientifilm (plural scientifilms) — science fiction film
• sercon — serious and constructive; an intellectual fan or relating to taking science fiction [too] seriously
• SF/F/H — Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror; speculative fiction
• sfnal — science fictional
• skiffy — derogatory/jocular version of "sci-fi"
• slan (plural slans)
• slanshack (plural slanshacks)
• slash — a genre of (often erotic) fan fiction (from K/S)
• SMOF (plural SMOFs) — Secret Master of Fandom
• smof — to act in the manner of a SMOF
• stf — scientifiction; science fiction
• stfnal — scientifictional
• stfan (plural stfans or stfen) — science fiction fan(s)
• stfandom (plural stfandoms) — science fiction fandom(s)
• stfantasy (plural stfantasies) — science fiction(s) and fantasy(ies); speculative fiction
• stfanzine (plural stfanzines) — science fiction fanzine(s)
• stfcon (plural stfcons) — science fiction convention(s)
• stfdom (plural stfdoms) — the community of science fiction writers and fans
• stfield (plural stfields) — the field(s) of science fiction
• stfilm (plural stfilms) — science fiction film(s)
• stfnist (plural stfnists) — science-fictionist(s); one involved in science fiction (fan, writer, etc)
• stfsy — overall genre containing science fiction and fantasy; speculative fiction
• stfzine (plural stfzines) — science fiction magazine(s)
• TANSTAAFL (or tanstaafl) — slogan: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
• thish — this issue
• trufan (plural trufans or trufen) — active and dedicated fan(s)
• unfannish — not fannish; not characteristic of, or relating to, a fan/fandom
• unfannishness — behaviour inconsistent with being a fan
• ungafiate — see degafiate
• Watsonian — in-universe perspective; explanation within the text
• WKF (plural WKFs) — Well Known Fan(s); fandom celebrit(y/ies)
• yed (plural yeds) — your editor(s)
• zinefan (plural zinefans or zinefen) — fan(s) primarily interested in fanzines

References

• Jeff Prucher, editor (2007), Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.
• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “Fanspeak”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.

External links

• Selected terms at Google Ngram Viewer