Definitions:

APA

Amateur Press Association, a sort of limited fanzine designed to work on writing style, including contribs from each person on the mailing list, where each person has to send off a contri bution every time, or at least meet minac.

apahack

Someone who writes for a number of APAs, or whose main fanac is APAs.

badge

The name tag which signifies your membership in a con. Note that you aren't considered to be buying a "ticket" to go to a "show", at a con, you are considered to be part of the family, a member who has voting rights on how (and in some cases where) the next con is run. You are encouraged to help out as a gopher or be part of the c oncom for next year.

BEM

Bug Eyed Monster, usually interested in earthling wom en, no one knows why. A staple of the old space opera s tories.

bheer

The fannish drink of choice. Adding a silent 'h' is popular in fan speak.

blog

A punch, often served with dry ice.

BNA

Big Name Author, aka pro.

BNF

Big Name Fan. See SMOF.

Bob

The icon of the church of the SubGenius, not purely fannish, but typi cal of the lighthearted, strange non-religious religions that pop up in fandom f rom time to time. See dianetics, or better yet, don't.

clubzine

A fanzine produced by a science fiction clu b.

con

When shortened this way, refers specifically to a Sci ence Fiction convention, a weekend get-together where SF authors, artists, and f ans meet, mingle, have parties, panels, dance, filk, and can buy books and art.

concom

The con committee, a group of fans who get toge ther to put on a con.

contrib

Contribution to a fanzine or APA.

costuming

Making and wearing a costume for a contes t, dance, or convention. A costume worn during the day at a con is called a "ha ll costume" as opposed to the more elaborate costumes, often several friends wea ring related costumes to make up a tableau vivant for a contest. Typically, abo ut 5% of costumes at a general SF con will be the stereotypical klingons, star t rek outfits, etc. 15% goth/bondage costumes, 10% from some book, 20% anime, media, or furries, and the remaining 50% are just something unique and cool that someone came up with as an excuse to dress up, incl. body paint, lingerie, wierd hair, tuxes, chainmail bikinis, regency ba llgowns... all coexisting and all accepted. A costumer is someone who participa tes in costume contests seriously, with rules, jargon, and separate cons all the ir own.

cretin con

A media con put on by mund anes whose only purpose is to make money. Does not have panels, dance, part ies, art show, or anything to make it a real con.

cyberpunk

A recent SF subgenre involving high computer technology and dis solutioned people living in a world ruled by multinational corporations. Bill G ibson's Neuromancer is usually acknowledged as the best example, though t he roots of the movement can be traced to an underground, self-avowed samizdat z ine called "Cheap Truth".

DUFF

Down Under Fan Fund. The idea is that a lot of fen contribute a lit tle money and elect one person who gets a free ticket to the WorldCon overseas.

faaan

Should sound like the bleating of sheep. Someone who talks about f annish politics and gossip to the exclusion of SF itself. See SMO F, DUFF, TAFF, and MAFF.

FAANS

A video by Larry Tucker, with an all-star Fan cas t, about Jophan's adventures at a con.

fan

One who is in organized fandom, other than just reading/watching SF, participate s and interacts with other people with similar interests at parties, cons, newsg roups, fanzines, etc. One who has an aquaintance with the history, jargon, and customs of the subcultu re.

fanac

Fannish activity, doing something fannish. Going to cons, pubbing an ish, or meeting minac. There are those who say that anything a fan does is fanac, but it is really som ething a fan does to work on the hobby. Working on a costume for a con or writi ng fanfic would definitely be fanac.

fandom

The Science Fiction hobby or subculture. Inclu des discussing SF (books, film, TV...), writing amateur SF, conrunning, filking, gaming, costuming, smoffing, and more, new fandoms arise constantly.

faned

The editor (and publisher, and copy boy...) of a fanzine.

fanfic

This does not refer to all fiction written by f ans, because a lot of fans write original stuff. This means stories about charac ters in popular shows, books, plays, etc. A remake of Sweeney Todd using the ch arcacters from Cats, or a story where Captain Kirk fights Darth Vader would be f anfic. See slash.

fanzine

An amateur SF publication (often shortened to zine) sometimes including stories, con reports, book reviews, articles of fanni sh interest, and almost always LoCs.

fannish

To do with fandom, or the way fans typically do something. As in , "we're sharing a hotel room, that's so fannish".

femmefan

Female fan.

fen

Plural of fan, even if we often forget and say fans.

FIAWOL

Fandom is a Way of Life.

filk

A song, often an amusing parody, with science ficti on or fantasy lyrics set to the tune of a folksong, popular song, or another fil ksong (there are some totally original filks). To filk is to write or sing filk songs, and filkers are those who do so.

FIJAGH

Fandom is Just a Goddamn Hobby.

froody

Cool and really amazingly together. From The Hitchhiker's Guid e to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

fugghead

You don't want to be one.

furry

A subgenre in fandom involving anthropomorphic an imals, mostly in comic books. aka anthro.

GAFIA

Getting away from it all. To gafiate is to quit fandom.

gaming

Enjoying roleplaying, card, or board games, typ ically involving more than two players and an extended time, such as dungeons an d dragons, Magic, settlers of cataan, or vampire the masquerade.

Gay Nazis for Christ

Legend has it that Robert Heinlein was GoH at a con, and because he was the most respectable looking one there wear ing a badge, a couple of mundanes in the elevator asked him "who ARE you people?". His response, "Gay Nazis for Christ, ma'am" has lived o n... and explains those "Nuke the Unborn Gay Nazi Whales for Christ" buttons you may have seen.

GoH

Guest of Honor at a con, usually an author. Also AGo H: Artist Guest, FGoH: Fan Guest.

gopher

A volunteer who helps out the concom at the con , in exchange for a free membership. Usually the best way to get involved in fa ndom and meet people.

goth

Gothic. A subgenre typefied by interest in vampires, wearing all bl ack, reading the Sandman comic, and listening to Bauhaus or Alien Sex Fie nd.

ghod

What many fen worship.

ghu

What other fen worship.

grok

To completely understand. From Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a S trange Land.

huckster

A dealer who sells books, buttons, or other interesting SF oriented stuff in the huckster's room at a con.

Hugo

The award for best book, story, etc, named after Hugo Gernsbach, ear ly SF editor. Selected by vote of the membership and given at the WorldCon.

ish

An issue of a fanzine.

japanimation

Japanese animated SF, also called anime.

Jophan

Just your average Joe Fan. Replacing 'f' with 'ph' is common in fanspeak. Also a character in the video FAANS. The Enchanted Duplicator. and note that there is a Jophan Family Reuni on.

letterhack

Someone whose main contrib is writing L oCs.

lime jello

Legend has it that this is the best thing to put in your hotel room tub at a con, preferably with femmefen instead of marshmallows.

LoC

Letter of Comment, a response to the material in a zi ne, meant to give the authors and editor feedback.

Lysistrata Corps

A group of young women who volunteered to keep Defense G unners on the job in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, using their feminine c harms. Stayed at their posts and died with their men during second attack. Ref erence to the Greek play.

MAFF

Mid Atlantic Fan Fund. Something for those of us who are tired of h earing about TAFF and DUFF to contribute to, the idea is to dump the person who is elected into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

media con

A con dedicated to some television show, usua lly Trek or Dr. Who.

minac

The minimum activity necessary to maintain your m embership in an APA. A totally strict APA might require a contrib of thirty pag es every ish, whereas a really lenient one might allow you to go on with only fo ur or five pages a year.

mundane

A non-fan. Those people looking at you stran gely in the elevator at the con hotel.

Mycroft Holmes

aka Mike aka Michelle aka Adam Selene, Chairman of the Com mittee for a Free Luna aka HOLMES 7 computer that became self-aware in tMiaHM .

neofan

Someone new to fandom.

perzine

A zine where the editor writes everything, and doesn't ask for co ntribs.

propeller beanie

A person with a propeller beanie is com ic art shorthand for a SF fan. Ray Nelson popularlized the artistic practice in the late '40's, around the time he convinced George Young to wear one to the Wor ldCon in Toronto in 1948. It was Ray's idea that all of the Detroit fans would wear them, but at the last minute his dad wouldn't let him go (he was in high sc hool), and George was the only one with the guts to wear his. Wearing them becam e a fad within fandom.

pub an ish

Publish an issue of a zine.

relaxacon

A small con, usually less than 200 members, with no GoH, programming, panels, or serious activities, just a big party.

sercon

A con with only serious literary Science Fiction programmin g, no dance or media programming.

SF

Science Fiction & Fantasy, scientifiction, Speculative Fiction, all ac ceptible terms for the genre.

SFOHA

Science Fiction Oral History Association, a group formed to preserv e the history of early fandom through audio and video tape interviews.

SFWA

The Science Fiction Writers Association.

skiffy

Derogatory term for bad sci-fi movies, or the term sci-fi itself.

slan

Supermen from an old SF story by A.E. Van Vogt. Gave rise to slogan "fans are slans".

slan shack

A house where a bunch of fans live together. The original Sla n Shack was at 25 Poplar, Battle Creek, Michigan. In 1943 Al & Abby Lou Ashley bought the place so several other fans could move in with them and enjoy full-ti me fanac.

slash

Type of fanfic where Kirk and Spock, or any other characters, have a gay love affair.

SMOF

Secret Masters of Fandom. By definition, if you sa y you are one, you are not, although you can observe people smoffing (discussing running cons instead of Science Fiction itself) at any con.

space opera

Best represented by the work of E.E. " Doc" Smith, most science fiction from the 30's and 40's fits into this category. The Galactic Patrol, ray guns, BEMs, and Buck Rogers are all space opera, and recognizably space opera stories are still being published toda y.

stilyagi

Young punks in The Moon is a Harsh Mistr ess identifiable by their clothing: tights, padded at groin and thigh, and g litter on the upper body. Later started wearing red Liberty caps and formed the Stilyagi Air and Pressure Corps, also referred to as the Stilyagi Air Corps, re sponsible for manning airlocks and taking care of pressure breaches in case of a n attack from earth.

The word stilyaga is Russian, and refers to a subculture similar to beatniks or zoot suiters in Moscow of the 1950's. Stilyaga would listen to jazz, wear suits with very exaggerated padded shoulders, tight flute pants, very bright ties with palm trees or a woman's face on them, sunglasses, and platform shoes. All of this was considered very western and rebellious, and stilyaga were often arrested for their trouble. (drawing by Dmitry Shelukho)

Stilyagiball

Definition courtesy Erik Kauppi:
Stilyagiball is like regular volleyball except there is no limit on the number of hits per side. That is, one side can hit the ball many times before sending it over the net.
It was often played in a way that was relaxed about other rules as well. "Rules, we don't need no stinkin rules". I personally think this worked best when interpreted in a way that kept the ball in play as much as possible, and gave as many people as possible a chance to participate.
Sometimes we kept score.
Teams rotate in the usual fashion, and the out-of-bounds rules are followed. Traditional boundary marker is cast-off clothing.
[additional: last rules modification involved allowing rotation while the bal l was in play. ~ed.]

TAFF

Trans Atlantic Fan Fund. The idea is that a lot of fen contribute a little money and elect one person who gets a free ticket to the WorldCon overse as.

TANSTAAFL

There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch was the motto of Free Luna in Robert Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress . Also the Stilyagi Air Corps clubzine, click here to submit or LoC our next ish online .

TGB, The Great Bird of the Galaxy

Gene Roddenbery, creator and producer o f Star Trek.

TNG

Star Trek, The Next Generation.

TOS

Star Trek, The Original Series.

towel

An item of extreme significance in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's G uide to the Galaxy. "You really know where your towel is" is a high complim ent.

trek

Star Trek, ST.

trekkie

A media fan who is primarily into Star Trek. aka trekker.

trufan

Okay, Gary Farber made me put a reference to The Enchanted D uplicator in here... I still think that most people who claim to be Trufen a re usually what the story would call Serious Constructivists, Sycofans (what I c all wannabe BNF's), or evil Fanmagrevoos. A True Fan doesn't h ave to look down his nose at other fen, he greets you and wishes you well.

Vogon

A bureaucratic, officious, illtempered race from Hitchhiker's Gu ide.

WAHF

We Also Heard From:... a list of people who sent LoCs, but because o f space or editorial decision, the LoC wasn't printed. Sometimes IAHF. The gre at dread of any letterhack is to get WAHFed, proving tha t your letter wasn't good enough to print.

waldo

A remote control arm, used in handling hazardous materials. Taken from the story "Waldo" by Robert Heinlein.

wirehead

Cyberpunk term for someone who is addicted to being jacked into a computer, usually by a direct link.

WorldCon

The World Science Fiction Convention, held once a year, site sel ected three years in advance by vote. The site is chosen by geographic region, alternating between the east, west, and middle of North America. An overseas wo rldcon is eligible any year.

WSFS

The World Science Fiction Society, the membership of the WorldCon.

zark off

Go away, you're a kneebiter. From Hitchhiker's Guide.

zine

See fanzine.