Also written "E%re." A slanshack at 84 Drayton Park, London, shared by Ken Bulmer and Vincent Clarke before they married London femmefans and went their separate ways. Belfast fan Walt Willis was entertained there when he attended conventions in England and was on hand to see the invention of steam. (See "Steam.")

There have been three Exclusion Acts at Worldcons, two major/one minor, all of which ultimately drew negative responses from fandom.

(1) At the 1939 NYCon I (the first "worldcon"), the Triumvirs who were running the show (Sam Moskowitz, Will Sykora and James V. Taurasi), citing "conflicts" which had occurred at the Newark con brought on by Don Wollheim and other Futurians, ultimately denied entry to six members of the New York Futurian Society–Wollheim, Robert A.W. Lowndes, Cyril Kornbluth, Lois Gillespie, Fred Pohl and John Michel. Although the Triumvirs had talked about the possibility earlier, actually doing so was apparently an on-the-spot decision made when attempts to negotiate an alternative failed (Wollheim and Moskowitz could not agree upon terms allowing their admission) and upon the discovery of some "Michelist" (essentially pro-Communist) fliers which the group intended to distribute. At least four Futurians–Dave Kyle, Richard Wilson, Jack Rubinson and leslie perri–were not barred. The reaction of fandom as a whole, while not necessarily pro-Futurian, was very definitely anti-Exclusion.

(2) The mini-Exclusion did not take place until the next time a Worldcon was held in New York, the 1956 NYCon II, when the convention chairman was Kyle, one of the Futurians who’d been allowed to enter NYCon I. Kyle excluded those who had not purchased a banquet ticket from hearing the GoH talk by Al Capp or any of the rest of the proceedings. See "Balcony Insurgents" for the full details (or at least fuller than this).

(3) Six years later, the Pacificon Committee choose to ban Walter Breen; the committee announced their intention before the Worldcon was held, explaining that they had been advised that they might be held liable if Breen were to seduce an underage male fan there, but also plunging all of active fandom into war. At around the same time, he was blackballed by the 13 members of FAPA needed to drop him from their waiting list, but within a very short period of time more than half FAPA's 65 members over-rode it and voted to reinstate him (the argument being that, whatever his sexual orientation might be, Walter was unlikely to seduce anyone in a organization whose activities take place via the mails). Breen took on a de facto membership anyway when he married Marion Zimmer Bradley, who was already a member. Despite protests and even outright boycotts by some, Breen was not allowed to attend the Pacificon. Worldcon Chairman Bill Donaho outlined the committee's actions, detailing incidents which had been observed regarding Walter that fell short of seducing youths but nonetheless gave some people pause, in a pre-convention fanzine called The Boondoggle.. The resulting fandomwide War is thus often referred to as the Boondoggle or the Breen Boondoggle. Although his behavior at conventions both before and after Pacificon were beyond reproach (unless you count the offer of floor space in the room of Ted and Sylvia White at SeaCon to the young Gordon Eklund as a pass, as some people apparently did), Breen did write the authoritative book on man-boy love and ultimately died in prison a convicted pederast. But even 40 years after the event, the sole point fans on both sides can agree upon is that the resulting feud had long-lasting effects, tore the fabric of the microcosm beyond repair and led to a proliferation of mutually exclusive private apas where the opposing forces retired to lick their wounds and assure themselves that they had been undeniably right while the other side had been unmistakably wrong.
(8/24/2005)

When we read a new fanzine, magazine or book, some fun-loving fans maintain that we thereby get eyetracks all over them so they can never again truly be called “mint.” The late James White was joined by Arnie Katz in the area of fans who were so nearsighted that they also left nosetracks between their eye tracks, but it has also been said that the reason so many fans wear glasses is to keep them from getting eyetracks on their fanzines, magazines and books.
(8/26/2005)

Electronic fanzine; initially a publication whose primary medium is electronic, generally presented over the internet (e.g., Cyberspace, Vanguard, E-Views, Emerald City, &c.). But what was once a clear distinction has grown less clear, as some zines presented over the internet are formatted so as to be downloaded and printed as a paper fanzine, simply eliminating the cost of postage and printing on the part of the editor.
(8/11/2005)

Fiction (sometimes sf, sometimes not) about fans published in the fanzines of mainstream fanzine fandom. Can be serious, humorous or both; can be about Real Fans using Real Fan Names, or about imaginary/hypothetical fans. Some would extend this to professionally published novels with fans and fandom as their characters and setting – e.g., Anthony Boucher's Rocket to the Morgue, Gene DeWeese & Robert Coulson's Now You See It/Him/Them and Charles Fort Never Mentioned Wombats, Sharyn McCrumb's Bimbos of the Death Sun, &c. There have also been a number of short stories, some stfnal and some not, published professionally which involve fans. It's generally not thought to include books in which fans have been Tuckerized. See 'TUCKERIZED" and also see "FANFICTION".
(8/11/2005)

Having to do with the interpersonal/social aspect of sf fandom, e.g., fanzines, conventions, clubs, feuds, etc. Often considered to be the opposite of the pejorative form of "sercon". Fannish has also been defined as "anything two fans do together"; it implies a state of mind and generally requires a sense of humor (thus, the contrast with the negative implications of "sercon"). The extra "a" in "faannish" indicates a slightly more extreme case of fannishness, with far greater emphasis on fan doings than on sf. In early usage, it sometimes had three "a"s but consensus fairly early on determined that two were by far enough and three was really Going Too Far. (We would not want anyone to consider us ridiculous, after all.)
(8/24/2005)

A video by Larry Tucker, with an all-star Fan cast, about Jophan's adventures at a con. Predated Beyond The Enchanted Duplicator: To The Enchanted Convention, the sequel to The Enchanted Duplicator which dealt with the same theme.
(8/24/2005)

Acronym for Forced Away From It All (i.e., not by personal choice) or Fell Away From It All; turning one's interests elsewhere. The term "fafiate" can be used as a noun or a verb. As a noun, a fafiate is someone who experiences or engages in fafia: "Poor George went to college and found himself to be a fafiate." As a verb, it is the act of experiencing fafia: "Poor George went to college and found himself forced to fafiate."
(10/28/2005)

Someone who doesn't read or feel any particular attraction to science fiction but who enjoys the company of fans and fandom's social order and whose company is enjoyed by fans. If used to describe someone who is a fan in the traditional sense, it’s a pejorative, and some overly serious stuffed shirts use it as a pejorative all the time, but otherwise it is used as a synonym for a “fannish type” of person, which is (or should be) regarded as an intended compliment.
(8/20/2005)

Short for fanatic, the term Hugo Gernsback hung on us when we wrote enthusiastic letters to his all-stf magazine Amazing Stories. Can be applied to any devoted aficionado, but in context (such as in rec.arts.sf.fandom) means someone who enjoys (or once enjoyed) reading or viewing science fiction and/or someone who enjoys the company of sf fans. Quite often a distinction is drawn between sf readers and "fans" who participate, to one extent or another, in the sf microcosm. The fans are not making the distinction to say that readers are not fans of science fiction, but because there are things that can be said of one group that does not apply to the other. It is important to note, as a result, that "fan" is a slippery term which, again depending on context, might mean an sf film/tv enthusiast, any sf reader or might mean only those who are involved in a particular segment of the microcosm, such as the net, clubs, fanzines or conventions. Thus some form of qualification is usually made at the outset–e.g., "other-media fan," "reader fan," "net fan," "convention fan" or "fanzine fan"–so subsequent usages of “fan” mean the same as the subset indicated initially. Then again, there are those who prefer to be called “amateurs” rather than “fans.”
(8/12/2005)

(1) Amateur sf that all too frequently gets printed in sf fanzines put out by relative neofen (although some with more experience in the microcosm persist in their ignorance). Generally looked upon with disfavor because, with rare exception, if the piece were any good it would be published professionally. Then too, people who write sf for fanzines generally learn little besides how to write bad sf for fanzines. As 75 years of experience shows, the vast majority of active fans who’ve "gone pro" have been those who contributed relatively little amateur sf and a lot of essays and articles to fanzines. Roger Zelazny was a major exception to this rule, having contributed (as a teenager) a truly terrible sf story to Thurban I, one of the worst crudzines of all time, and then went on to a brilliant career writing science fiction some time later.

(2) Among fans of other media sf, fan fiction is fiction set in the other-media universe (Star Trek, X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, &c.).
(8/26/2005)

(1) Short for FAN ACtivity–writing on the internet or in fanzines, attending or participating in clubs or conventions..

(2.) The name of the second magic wand the Spirit of Trufandom touches Jophan with so as to show him fandom's inner essence (the first was called 'Contact') in The Enchanted Duplicator.

(3) Also the title of a Hugo-winning newszine edited by Terry Carr and Ron Ellik in the late 1950s/early 1960s–which, by sheer coincidence, mind you, succeeded a fannish newszine called Contact.
(8/26/2005)

Term coined by Walt Willis in the 1950s to describe the fannish tendency to adulate earlier generations of fans, particularly the BNFs of those generations, and their contributions to the microcosm.
(9/18/2005)

An encyclopedia of terms used in sf fandom. Jack Speer published the first one; Dick Eney published Fancyclopedia II. Work on a third is ongoing; this ain’t it.
(8/12/2005)

Short for FANzine EDitor.
(8/20/2005)

An ongoing conflict between individual fans, fan societies (regional or generic, e.g., "Trekkers" v "Trekkies", skiffy nuts v everyone, e.g.), fan societies and individuals, etc. Some truly major fanfueds–WSFS, Inc., the Boondoggle, the TAFF Wars, among others–have been pervasive over large areas of fandom, and are detrimental to the microcosm as a whole. The net equivalent is "flamewar."
(8/12/2005)

Fans who write the histories of fandom, who publish the histories of fandom, who are interested in the histories of fandom.

Of and pertaining to fanhistory.

The first convention/formal meeting of the Timebinders, fandom's fan historical and preservationist society.

The history of fandom.

Short for FAN MAGazine. Abbreviated "fmz." Oddly enough, the term “fan mag” is archaic but the abbreviated “fmz” is not. The preferred term, since the 1940s, is “fanzine,” as “fan magazine” was used from the 1930s onwards in the mundane world to describe magazines that published sensationalized gossip and speculation about movies stars.
(8/24/2005)

A female fan (obsolete). Well, the term for female fans is obsolete; hopefully female fans themselves are not only not obsolete but are actually coming into their own in the microcosm.
(10/28/2005)

An invitational New York City fan club founded by Dick & Pat Lupoff, Larry & Noreen Shaw and Ted & Sylvia White. Most, but by no means all, members were fanzine fans but the only real requirement was that of compatibility with other members. In the mid-1960s, under Ted White's leadership, the club bid for and won the right to put on the 1967 Worldcon in New York (NyCon3). Note that the club is called Fanoclasts but an individual member is referred to as a Fanoclast.
(8/12/2005)

The highly evolved fannish version of Stephen Potter’s “Gamesmanship“ and “Oneupsmanship.” Fansmanship’s primary proponent, Bob Shaw, then of Belfast, N. Ireland, explained that it was specifically designed to help “rid fandom of all this dreadful good fellowship, with which at present it abounds by far too much.” In a series of lectures, BoSh outlined numerous time-tested ploys and counter-ploys via which one fan can instill in others the feeling that they are unworthy lowlife scum, while making themselves the most awesome, feared, disliked and, yes, even avoided fan present at any gathering, be it club or convention. Learning the intricacies of the ploys can take a lifetime of study and utilizing them properly remains an art form but, as Shaw explained, even the newest fansmen can seldom go wrong if they stick to basic principles by always keep their groundwork in mind, even quoting Dimsworthy, one of the greatest fansmen of all time, to that effect on the subject. As the immortal Dimsworthy so eloquently put it, “I never forget my groundwork!”
(10/28/2005)

See "Smooth." Term coined by Ray Radlein on rec.arts.sf.fandom.
(8/20/2005)

A reprint collection of fan writings. Can be a "Best of" the year, a "Best of" (or representative sampling) an individual fan or even a themed collection. Corflu published a number of them.
(8/12/2005)

The writings of fans, oddly enough.

An amateur magazine put out by one or more fans to be read by other fans, at least some of whom are participants in the microcosm of sf fandom. (Abbreviated "zine" or "fnz"–or "fmz" for fan magazine.) As distinguished from "prozine," which see; it's a fannish urban myth that they were coined at the same time. The term "fanzine" was coined in October 1940 by Louis Russell Chauvenet, a deaf fan who felt the term "fan mag" was un-euphonious. The term "fan magazine" was also in common use at the time to describe professional gossip magazines about movie stars.
(8/20/2005)

The Fantasy Amateur Press Association; the oldest fan apa in the world, founded circa 1937 and still going. However, there are mundane apas which predate those in fandom, and at least two of the three–AAPA and NAPA (or American APA and National APA)–are still in existence. The United APA (UAPA) disintegrated. H.P. Lovecraft published a "paper" (as they call their fanzines) called The Conservative for them that predates the first real fanzine (or the first real sf prozine, for that matter).
(8/12/2005)

(1) to desire, to want; to yearn for–with sexual overtones, “I have a serious faunch for Darryl Hannah“ or “I have a serious faunch for James Marsters”–or without, "We’ve got a serious faunch for chocolate."
(2) to hunt for, to acquire; "He's gone on the faunch for some bheer."
(8/20/2005)

See "Dirty Old Pro". Generally an affectionate term, but make certain either (a) the huckster in question is aware of that before you use it or (b) you have bus fare to whatever destination may, as a direct result, contain the remainder of your teeth. Keep in mind too that even the term "huckster" is considered a pejorative in some fan circles; in the Southwest they are called "dealers" everywhere except, possibly, Las Vegas.

A female fan (obsolete). The term, that is; female fans will never be obsolete.

Plural of fan. (Man is to men as fan is to fen. But fans is okay while mans isn't. Go figure.) Also neofan/neofen.
(8/13/2005)

see FANFEUD

Acronym for Fandom Is A Ghoddamned Ghood Hobby. A fannish philosophy that came out during Sixth Fandom which takes the extremes of FIAWOL and FIJAGH and tries to make them meet in the middle. While it’s probably the most reasonable fannish philosophy, it’s the most unpronounceable acronym–“feeyah” followed by a gagging sound. No wonder people always talk about the other two.
(8/12/2005)

Acronym for Fandom Is A Way Of Life. (Pronounced "FEE-a-wall.") A sercon philosophy perceived during Fifth Fandom as being opposed to FIJAGH.
(8/12/2005)

Acronym for Fandom Is Just A Ghoddamned Hobby. (Pronounced “FIE-jag.“) A fannish philosophy during Fifth Fandom which was in opposition to FIAWOL.
(8/12/2005)

(1) (n.) Filk is a form of folk music that grew out of certain segments of the fannish sf community, and frequently addresses the interests of many fans; some even going so far as to say filk is music by fans and filkers, no matter what the subject. A lot of filk these days is more rock-style than folk-style, and indeed the musical form doesn‘t seem to be all that important, ranging from rap to opera and including G&S and musical comedies. Presently the filk community overlaps the fannish community rather than merely being part of it, and there are now many filkers who don't participate in the sf microcosm at all. The term was a 1953 typo by Lee Jacobs for a piece he’d submitted to SAPS entitled "The Influence of Science Fiction on Modern American Filk Music" about supposed sf incidents in folk song, but actually an analysis of a number of thoroughly filthy "dirty songs," taking various metaphors in them as if they were meant literally. Wrai Ballard, the OE of SAPS, decided the piece might run afoul of postal authorities, so it was not run through the mailing, but he noted the typo of “filk” for “folk” and mentioned it to a lot of fans, and not long after that another SAPS member, Karen Anderson, took LeeJ’s typo and defined it as musical parodies written by sf fans. But this origin story may explain why some people believe it to be an abbreviation for "filthy folk singing."
(8/11/2005)

(2) (v.i.) to perform filk music. The definition preferred on rec.music.filk is “the folk music of the science fiction and fantasy fandom community”; while this may be what they prefer, there are elements of the microcosm who feel they neither speak nor sing for them. (v.t.) to write a filksong parodying a song or using the tune of a song.
(8/11/2005)

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