Thank you very much previous generation of fandom

[sombrefan]

So I'm reading the new SFX which has a wee book included with it called "The Ultimate SF and Fantasy Trivia Book Volume 2". For anal rententives it's jammed packed with great facts guaranteed to get you shunned at social events. Anyhow it has a fanspeak section filled with terms that I've never heard of.

Actifan
BEM
Egoboo
Egoscan
Faan
Fafia
FIAWOL/FIJAGH
Passifan
Sercon
SMOF

Hand on heart I have never seen these terms used in my travels.

Comments

[deird1]

FIAWOL tends to pop up quite often in fanfic circles. Never heard of the rest, though...

[sl-podcast.livejournal.com]

.....

There are no words. Honestly. There just isn't.

[grnarmadillo.livejournal.com]

I've heard SMOF ("Secret Master of Fandom") with regard to the Hugo Awards, which are decided by balloting of those who pay for a membership to Worldcon and then elect to vote. One blames SMOF's for rigging the election when what one views as a miscarriage of critical judgement occurs.

[zenkitty-714.livejournal.com]

I'm familiar with most of those terms. I think I am an old fan.

[rleyser.livejournal.com]

Never heard of *any* of them.

Although SMOF is awfully close to your full initials, so maybe its a bastardized way to speak of you? :)

[letloverule42.livejournal.com]

yeah, i'm stumped. but then again i've been in the fandom game for less than 10 years so i guess in some way that makes me a....n00b?! 0_0

[deannab.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I know those. I don't know whether it makes me an old fan, or it's just that I hang around with old fans. LASFS has been around since the 1930s, so there's a whole lot of fan history that rubs off.

Actifan = Active Fan, as opposed to Passifan. Actively into fandom (meeting with other fans, posting, running conventions, etc.), rather than just sitting back and enjoying.

BEM = Bug-Eyed Monster. Green rubber suit low-budget aliens. Mostly mid-twentieth century scary alien movies/TV/novels.

Egoboo = Ego boost. Like writing fanfic just because you need some egoboo in the form of thanks and compliments from others.

Egoscan, Faan, Fafia, Sercon - Heard the terms, but don't know the meaning. I think Fafia is short for Fan Mafia, but I'm not sure.

FIAWOL/FIJAGH = Fandom Is A Way Of Life/Fandom Is Just A Goddamn Hobby. FIAWOL was first, but many objected to that, because it feeds into the whole "fans are freakishly strange, pathetic dweebs" stereotype, so FIJAGH was the rebuttal to that. Also FIASOI = Fandom Is A Source Of Income.

Passifan = Passive Fan. As opposed to Actifan.

SMOF = Secret Masters Of Fandom. Those who are the people working behind the scenes, organizing and running multiple conventions, websites, fan clubs, etc., often without most anyone knowing their names or realizing just how many things they're really in charge of. Similar to BNF (Big Name Fan), except without the need for egoboo. BNFs tend to make sure that everyone knows their names, while SMOFs are happy to be anonymous.

Other terms:

GAFIAte (prounounced GAF fee ate) - Get Away From It All. Stepping away from fandom for a period of time.

Filthy Board = An ingenious combination of a pegboard with loops of string that allows flyers and daily newszines to all be organized in pockets on a board that can be leaned up against a hotel wall during a convention. Named for "Filthy" Pierre, the fan who came up with the system.

'Zine/fanzine = Imagine the days before the internet, then take standard Live Journal posts - fic, art, reviews, blogs, and comments about the previous 'zine - print off copies for everyone in your circle of friends, get together and staple your post together with everyone else's, and you've got a 'zine.

Signing monkeys - minor celebrities at a con who aren't important enough to be on any panel, they're just there at their tables with a pile of photos hoping someone will buy their autograph.

There's others, but I've got to leave.

[kuzibah.livejournal.com]

Yeah, as those above noted, these are all older terms. If a guy rolls his eyes at your "Buffy" t-shirt as you as you enter a con, and mutters under his breath about these kids not *reading* anymore, he's using these terms with his peeps. Unfortunately, these are also the people who DO a lot of the con gruntwork, so we're stuck with 'em.

[cmdrsuzdal.livejournal.com]

Considering fandom has been around for nearly 80 years an there are definite subcultures within it I'm not surprised that even an active fan might not know everything. I'm certainly not up on all fanfic/anime terminology for example.

I'm familiar with all the terms above, but yes they are mostly older in origin (although still in current use) and more common in general interest convention/fanzine fandom than internet/media fandom.

[cmdrsuzdal.livejournal.com]

Egoscan is skimming an article/con report/whatever for mentions of your name or pictures of you. Kind of a primitive version of self-googling :)

Sercon; Serious and constructive. I believe this was used as a tounge-in-cheek/disparaging reference to the boring parts of fandom and fans who took stuff to seriously. I've also heard it used for conventions were the focus is more scholarly/conrunning/etc vs. relaxacons or party cons.

Faaan: Folks who are too into the culture/conrunning/politics rather than the books/movies/stuff itself. I think it's meant to be pronounced like the bleating of a sheep.

Fafia/Fafiate, Forced Away From it All, as in Gafia/Gafiate but unwillingly.

http://fanac.org/Fannish_Reference_Works/FandBook/FandBook.html
http://www.smithway.org/fstuff/termsA-B.html