The original version of the following information was pulled from the "Neo-Fan's Guidebook" by Terry Whittier. It is copywrited 1987 by him but most of this stuff is common knowledge and alot of it has now been greatly rewritten. The Fan in charge of rewrites (self-appointed) for BBS systems is Daniel Segard. Send any comments, threats or whatever to him in care of The Cyber-Zone FidoNet number 104/61. This edition released 12/1/1988. --------- One thing about fan slang is that it's always changing. Fans, if left to their own devices, prove to be amazingly creative. Evolution also plays an important part of fan slang. With the popularity of Star Trek, the traditional Dead Dog Party enjoys a new incarnation as a "Dead Jim party" at Trek Cons. The definitions herewith presented are often arbitrary and by no means final. Take them with a grain of sodium chloride. I hope they will help you make sense of what you read and hear in fandom. A many computer terms have come to be absorbed into fanspeak. With so many fans being involved with computers, the inevitable spill-over has occured. Several of these words and terms are included here. Ackermansion - 4E (Forrest J) Ackerman's house, containing a rather extensive collection of SF memoribelia. acti-fan - a fan who distinguishes himself by publishing, writing, and/or organizing fan events with vigor. AI - artificial intelligence; computer program that can learn. alias - also called "handle" or "fanname". An assumed name that a fan is commonly known by. This name will often be used on badges at Cons or as the username given on a BBS. annish - annual issue of a fanzine. (Some publisher's yearly output.) anime (pronounced like annihmay) - short for animation, what the Japanese call the field of animation. APA - Amateur Press Association. These things have been around for years. The concept here is that you get together 15-20 people each of whom do an article of a page or two. Each of them makes about 20 copies of their article and sends it to a central location. Each person's article is merged with the others to form a single issue of the APA. The issues are then redistributed to the participants. APAs still go on. The electronic form of an APA is an Echo. Same idea, different technology. ASFA - Association of Science Fiction Artists. Formed in 1976 by Rick Sternbach. Keeps SF artists informed on subjects of copywrite and contracts. Badger - a cousin of the Gopher, these furry little creatures are found at the doors to function areas watching for people who don't have any obvious proof of membership in the Con. bacover - the back cover of a magazine. BAUD - refers to the speed at which data is transmitted between two computers. BBS (bulletin board system) - a computer run system allowing individuals with computers and modems to communicate msgs and exchange files over the phone lines. bedsheet - a magazine format of a size averaging 8.5 x 11.5 inches. This format was used by several of the pulp magazines of the 30's & 40's. BEM - Bug-Eyed Monster. Known to grace (?) magazine covers and threaten pulchritudinous females. In Omaha fandom the BEM has been mutated into the Bugle-Eared Monster. Beshonen - a long haired, androgenous type of character, usually found in girls' comics and anime. Bheer - the fannish Ghod of silliness and bumping into things. blog and crottled greeps - nectar and ambrosia, a spritous liquor and a snack greatly favored in the British Isles. BNF - Big Name Fan. An acti-fan who has distingushed himself over a wide geographical area. BTW - By The Way. BYO - Bring Your Own. BYOB - Bottle (drinks) BYOF - Food, etc. canfan - a fan from Canada. CoA - Change of Address. Con Suite - where the group who's hosting the convention you are attending, will set up munchies and a place to relax and meet people. For con attendees, especially neo-fans. ConCom - CONvention COMmittee, the people making up the committee hosting a convention. ConRep - a convention report, usually printed in a fanzine. corflu - correction fluid used on mimeo masters; also, liquid paper. crash - to sleep, perchance to dream.... creative anachronut - go out into the parking lot and look into the back of beat-up station wagons for their dented helms, plywood shields, hockey pads, and rattan swords. (members of the SCA and other such orgs.) crifanac - critical fan activity. croggle - amazement or awe. CRT - cathode-ray tube. Depending on how you recieved this file you may or may not be looking at one. If you aren't looking at a CRT you are probably looking at a hardcopy. (Or possibly an LCD screen.) crudzine - a terrible, garbage fanzine. (occasionally even a prozine.) cyberpunk - a subgenre of SF, involving technology in a dystopian society and characters that would be considered punks by today's standards. DASFA - Denver Area Science Fiction Association. Dbasing - working with a computer data base. dead dog party - from "when the last dog is hung" - archaic saying. An open party held at the end of the convention to finish off the con suite consumables and for the concom to lick its wounds. deadwood - an apazine contributer who just does the required minac. ditto - spirit duplication method. A dying (horribly) art form. DM - Dungeon Master; Danger Mouse (BBC cartoon character). DNP, DNQ - Do Not Print and Do Not Quote. Dorsai - The Ultimate Soldiers. Dorsai Irregulars - con security. download - to pick-up a file off of a BBS. DUFF - Down Under Fan Fund, for sending a fan to or from Australia. dupe - to duplicate, especially copy a video tape. duper - duplication machine, such as a mimeograph. Echo - a BBS message conference in which the messages are shared by several different computers systems, sometimes across the globe from each other. EPROM - Eraseable Programable Read Only Memory. egoboo - words or actions which boost a person's ego. ERB - Edgar Rice Burroughs. eyetracks - left on the printed page by careless reading habits. FAFIA - Far Away From It All. Gafiating in a big way. On occasion Forced Away From It All, in cases where a fan has been ostracized. Faaan - writings or activities focussing on fans and not on SF. fakefan - a person who isn't interested in SF, but just likes to hang around SF fans for the social life or free booze. Fan - a person who likes something. As in "I like to breathe." fanac - fan activity. Producing cons, printing fanzines, etc. Also an American fanzine, edited from Berkeley by Terry Carr and Ron Ellik (1958-61) and Walter Breen (1961-3). Won the Hugo for best fanzine in 1959. faned - fanzine editor. fanfic - fiction written by fen often found in fanzines. fannish - That which has the essence of Fandom. Like croggling. fanzine - fan magazine, a publication for fan communication. fanzine fan - a fan who makes fanzines his first love. faunch - to nervously or impatiently wait for something. femmefan - female fan. fen - plural of fan. "Are we not fen?" FIAWOL - Fandom Is A Way Of Life. Usually said with a tired sigh. FIJAH / FIJADH / FIJAFH / FIJAGH - Fandom Is Just A Hobby. The dissenting view. Brave talk, but unconvincing. filk songs - folk songs with SF or fantasy themes written by fans. first fandom - the fen who first started this whole meshuggenah. An actual group of fen comprised of those who were acti-fans prior to or during the first WorldCon in 1939. flame - a written form of shouting, usually consisting of personal attacks against other people. flange - a thingie or doohicky. Used to hold parts to other parts. fnz or fmz - fanzine, short for fan magazine. fout! - a fannish expletive. frack! - yet another fannish expletive. This one originated from BattleStar Galactica. fringe fan - a fan who isn't interested (yet?) in "mainstream" or literary SF, but just horror, Regency dance, Georgette Heyer, the Mythopoeic Society, etc. FTL - Faster Than Light FUBAR - Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition. Fellowship of Universalist, Bad-Attitude Religions. fugghead - a wet blanket; a stubborn traditionalist or sercon. FYI - For Your Information. GAFIA - Getting Away From It All. Dropping out of fandom or fanac. genzine - a fanzine of general interest, rather than specializing in content, such as a letterzine or newszine. Containing a range of material. ghod - the correct way for fans to spell it. See Ghu and Bheer. There are a number of ghods in fannish mythology: Herbie, Roscoe, Bloch, Pthalto, Foo, The Great Spider..... GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out. green room - a hospitality area at a con for guests and concom. Often the "ready room" for panelists to perpare in before panels. GoH - Guest of Honor. gopher - a small fan with big teeth seen running through the hotel, carrying out the whims of the concom. A close cousin of the Badger. Gofer it! Volunteers all, ghu love 'em. Goshwow or Goshwowoboyoboy - a fan's wide-eyed reaction to his first con or other group fannish experience. Grup - Short for grown-up. Also an adult Trek Fanzine. hacker - one who is knowledgeable about computer hardware and software. Should not be confused with "cracker" which describes those who break into computer systems. hardware - to computer hacks, computers. To anachronuts, their weapons. Herbangelism - a hoax religion started by Elst Weinstein whose god is a comic book character who wielded magical lollipops. Herbie saves (but the mongol hordes). Hogu award - given at Worldcon Ranquet for worst SF achievements. A hoax award started by Tom Digby with help by Mike Glyer and Elst Weinstein. The Ranquet is, of course, held at a McDonald's. Hugo award - awards given each year at the Worldcon. huckster / huxter - seller of merchandise. Like zapguns. hyperfanac - just as it sounds. Look for the fan with smoke coming out of his mimeo. illo - illustration in a fanzine. Often a fillo, if small. Illuminati - a group of people out to control the world. See the collected works of Robert Anton Wilson. See also: SMOF. interfacing - computer hacks talking to each other. ish - short for "issue." See "thish". Japanimation - animation from Japan. See anime. Joe Phan - the archetypal SF fan. John Doe's second cousin. keyboarding - typing stuff into a computer. (Unless you happen to be Filthy Pierre, in which case your keyboarding is musical.) Klaatu Borada Nicto - did you memorize this in the theater? 20 points. K/S - see Slash. LASFS - Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society. letter hack - person who writes lots of LoCs. (Lox?) letter zine - a zine which consists entirely of letters, save for an occasional editorial comment from the publisher. Again the technological version of this is an Echo. lime jello - a running joke in fandom. It seems that a certain well- known SF author (we won't say who) was asked what it would take to get him to show up for a certain Con (again we won't say which one). He replied "5 nubile young females in a jacuzzi filled with lime jello." It was provided. (Razor blades were needed to clean the jacuzzi afterwords.) Since that time lime jello has remained an in-joke to many segments of fandom. LNF - Little Known Fan. One step above a Neo. LoCs - Letters of Comment. Recieved and printed by fanzines. Maccing - using an Apple MacIntosh computer. Gives some people gas. manga - (pronounce "mon-gah") Japanese Comic Books. Considerably different style of drawing from ours. They are usually weekly, have up to 400-plus pages, and have circulations in the hundreds of thousands. It is quite acceptable for even young white-collar workers to be caught reading manga on the bus or train to work. Mary Sue - a type of romantic fanfic involving a gushy female becoming romantically involved with a major male character in a SF show. Often the author is writting herself in as Mary Sue. mecha - battle machinery, such as battle suits and convertable (transformable) fighter spacecraft, found in Japanese anime. media - generally considered to be that SF material that is not pro novels and short stories. i.e. TV shows, movies, radio dramas, comic books and graphic novels. minac - minimum activity needed to stay in an APA. Such as a minimum number of pages you must contribute in a year. Minnstf - fan group based in Minneapolis. Mundane - An unfortunate soul who has no interest in SF. mux - multiplex; to do more than one thing at a time. neo, neofan - A new recruit to fandom (fresh meat). Like youth, to be cherished and nurtured. N3F - National Fantasy Fan Federation. OE - Official Editor. Person who does or oversees the collating and sending out of APAzines to the contributors and other APA duties. Off-Centaur - The main distributor of recorded filk music. one-shot - usually refers to a publication that has no (intended) follow-up. OO - Official Organ. A clubzine. OPs - Operations. The people behind the scenes at Cons who actually run things. panels - a panel discussion between various people; often found as a programing item at Cons. pirate - one who steals software. Usually taking storebought copywrited programs and redistributing illegal copies to friends. poctsards - mutant postcards. An actual post office typo. propellor beanie - the traditional headgear of SF fans. protofan - One step below a neo. Reads SF but doesn't get involved with anything Fannish. prozine - SF magazine run for commercial gain. pulp - refers to a classification of the older SF and adventure magazines; those measuring 10x7 inches. These magazines were printed on cheap paper, but were the starting place for some of SF's greats. RGB - red green blue. The dot colors of a color TV. A color monitor. Robotech - three diffent series of Japanese anime - Macross, Southern Cross, and Mospeda, produced during the late 70s and early 80s. Spliced into one series when dubbed for the English-speaking TV markets. Roscoe - A Fannish ghod that takes on the appearance of a beaver. SCA - Society for Creative Anachronism. Started in Berserkley in the late 60's as a party concept and grew. And grew. Don't let them talk you into a little friendly "bashing practice." Sci-Fi - attributed to 4E Ackerman (who designed it to rhyme with Hi- Fi). The latest pronunciation is "skiffy". (1) Grade B monster movies. (2) a branch of fantasy literature in which the impact of technological change on the character or society is explored. Second Fandom - The group of fen that came after First Fandom but were active before or during the 1969 WorldCon. sercon - serious-constructive. (1) Originally the view that fanzines and partying was "below" Science Fiction, and that fandom must be saved from itself. (2) It has evolved to mean sober-minded activity within fandom, like charity fund raising, scholarships, writing developement projects, literary criticism, writing workshops and awards. SF - an acceptable contraction for Science Fiction or Speculative Fiction. SFWA - Science Fiction Writers of America. Founded in 1965 with Damon Knight as their first president. shareware - a type of computer program where the user can test the program out before sending the author the money for it. skiffy - don't use this term in polite company, unless you are describing B-Grade monster movies. slans - "Fans are Slans" or something like that. Read Van Vogt's SLAN. slan shacks - a fanish housing project. Rather like a commune only more fanish. Slash - A type of fan fiction dealing with sexual relationships between two characters of various media programs. K/S is the best known example of Slash fiction, dealing with Kirk and Spock's love life (with each other). This type of fiction is usually fairly explicit and is most often written by middle-aged housewives. (The reason for this has never been fully determined.) Other examples include Solo/Skywalker, Starsky/Hutch, Wesley/Worf, Higgins/Magnum and Solo/Chewbacca. (Heterosexual encounters are not considered to be slash.) smarm - sexually oriented fan fiction of an erotic nature. SMOF - Secret Master of Fandom. A person who fancies that he is pulling the strings that make things happen in fandom. smoothing - a tradition started by Wilson "Bob" Tucker of passing a bottle of Jim Beam's Choice around a circle of fen, each taking a swig; each holding one hand in the air. The final fan takes a swig; gives a toast and all bring their hands down in unison with a wild cry of "smooth". SNAFU - Situation Normal; All Fouled Up. snoggling - fannish version of necking. software - programs on computers; con programming; lingerie. Sysop - the Systems Operator of a BBS. The person in charge of the BBS. TAFF - Trans Atlantic Fan Fund. A fund to help pay the expenses to send a popular fan across the water to a convention in the interest of international good will. You vote with dollars. The lucky person usually agrees to write a report of his trip and the fund then sells it to help raise money for the next recipient. TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Boy, ain't it the truth! thish - contraction of "this issue". Lazy language. Tsk, Tsk. Trek - Short for Star Trek; a TV series of the mid-60's. Trojan - (no this is not a sexual device.) Trojans are computer programs that purport to do one thing (like word processing) while actually doing something destructive (like erasing all data on your computer, causing the power supply to meltdown, etc.) An annoying risk that one takes with new programs. Tronnafan - a fan from Toronto. Troubleshooter - a nice name for Con Security. Always around to handle any "problems" that might arise. Trufan - one who is sincerely interested in SF and all things fanish. Tucker Hotel - Bob Tucker suggested that Worlcons should always be held at a single hotel in the same place every year. So the fen began sending him one brick at a time so he could build this hotel himself. Tuckerism - the inclusion of "in jokes" in a story; such as the use of a fan's name. Twit - an annoying individual. Usually in reference to a person using a BBS. Twonk's Disease - A fannish affliction, characterized in its early stages by falling of the armpits. Caused by prolonged inhaling of corflu vapors and drinking bheer. typer - a typewriter. typo - a typographical error. Poctsards began thus. Upload - to send a file to a BBS. user friendly - a program or device that can be used successfully by someone who does not have technical training. virus - a fragmentary computer program that attaches itself to other computer programs and makes them do something else. See also: Trojan and read John Brunner's "Shockwave Rider". WAHF - We Also Heard From. Names of people who wrote to a fanzine, but for lack of space or somethin, their letters weren't printed. Wombat - a fuzzy animal with soft, furry paws; goes by the moniker of Jan Howard Finder. zapgun - the fannish weapon of choice. Usually renders both the intended victim and the wielder sterile. zine - short for fanzine or magazine.