GAFIA

See also: gafia

English

Alternative forms

• gafia

Etymology

Acronym of getting away from it all. Used in early science-fiction fandom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡæfi.ə/, IPA^(key): /ˈɡɑfi.ə/

Noun

GAFIA (uncountable)

1. (dated, fandom slang) The state of becoming involved in science fiction and fandom activity, leaving the mundane world.
   • 1944, John Bristol Speer, “G - Guild”, in Fancyclopedia‎^[1]:

     gafia - (Wilson) - Get Away From It All; motto of escapism.

   • c. 1944, Forrest J Ackerman, “Fantasy Flanguage”, in What is Science Fiction Fandom?‎^[2], page 27:

     So once again there were only 2 Fen, and while one picked up his obliterine and turned toward Mimi, the other, an escapist, picked up a prozine to gafia.

   • 1977, Damon Knight, The Futurians, page 71:

     "Gafia" (getting away from it all) started out being what a fan did when he was fanning.

2. (dated, fandom slang) The state of exiting or becoming inactive in fandom.
   • 1950 April, Arthur H. Rapp, “Timber!”, in Spacewarp‎^[3], volume 7, number 1 (#37 overall):

     Just a minor siege of GAFIA, from which, eventually, I will once again develop an enthusiasm for stf. At least I hope so. ¶ Etymological note for the benefit of fans who haven't met the word before: GAFIA is an intermittent affliction of fans. The letters stand for Getting Away From It All. Symptoms are sheer boredom while trying to read promags or fanzines, and allowing correspondence to pile up unanswered. Also a wish that half-done fanzines could be forgotten for a while. I am struggling to combat that last.

   • 1996 November, Ted White, “The Purple Fields Of Fanac”, in Science-Fiction Five-Yearly‎^[4], number 10, page 7:

     All computers had done was to speed up the process. New fans turned up more quickly, disappeared into gafia within months, if not weeks.

   • 1998 June 15, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, “Re: wedding: Leslie Smith & Ken Josenhans”, in rec.arts.sf.fandom‎^[5] (Usenet):

     Sorry, your demonstration does not in fact demonstrate gafia, only sanity. You'll have to do something else to demonstrate gafia. (Tip: When trying to prove gafia, don't do it in a post to rec.arts.sf.fandom.)

   • 2000 August, Paul Campbell, “Lokta Plokta”, in Plotka‎^[6], volume 5, number 4 (#20 overall):

     Actually I suppose it's restarting, but seeing as how my first time round was when Tarzan was editing Moorcock Weekly or whatever maybe my gafia can be forgotten.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• degafiate
• degafiated
• degafiates
• degafiating
• degafiation
• gafiate
• gafiated
• gafiates
• gafiating
• gafiation

Related terms

• FAFIA

References

• Jeff Prucher, editor (2007), “GAFIA”, in Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.