sci-fi ikea manuals

[ffutures]

Nice idea, wish they'd used "SF" instead of Sci-fi

http://www.collegehumor.com/article/6500868/sci-fi-ikea-manuals

Comments

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Oh, I dunno -- all the items covered seem more like sci-fi than SF to me.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I just hate that term.

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

For some reason the guy in the last one looks to me like David Wake...

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I would have said Tommy Cooper

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to see someone else who still feels that way. I first encountered "sci-fi" in Time magazine, back when their tone toward any work of science fiction was invariably sneering, and it grates on me to hear it used by a fan.

[nelc.livejournal.com]

It's ownership; we're allowed to use it, mundanes aren't.

Personally, when I want to be self-mocking I use "skiffy".

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

It's not a question of ownership to me. I don't use it. Ever.

[timill]

HENJ

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

;-)

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

"Nice idea, wish they'd used "SF" instead of Sci-fi"

That's just a sign how far down the rabbit hole you've fallen. To normal (specifically American) citizens, SF first brings to mind "San Francisco" and RPG means "Rocket Propelled Grenade."

Personally, I had no idea people objected to the term "Sci-Fi" until JMS complained about it in one of his postings years ago. Your post is the second time I've seen someone complain about it.

[kayshapero]

Depends on who you associate with. Believe it or not, it has been used as a pejorative.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Pretty much every word in the language has been used as a pejorative by someone. To people who don't like the stuff, any version of Science Fiction / Speculative Fiction / Sci-Fi / SF / etc. will be pejorative ("that stupid Buck Rogers stuff"). 'Mundane' is a perfectly good word, but has been (mis)used by a lot of fans as a pejorative. Heck, 'fan' itself is pejorative in its original sense, derived from 'fanatic' (and in some cases well deserved, especially for ones who go ballistic over terms like SF and SciFi!).

Whatever 'new' words you use, they will soon attract a pejorative meaning from those who dislike the activity or people associated with the word. Call it Xyzzy and in a few years people will be complaining that Xyzzy is a pejorative (and some of those to whom it applies will be satirically pronouncing it 'zizzy'). The only way of countering it is to take the words back from the pejorators[1] and wear them proudly, the same way that 'gay' has been taken back, and show that it is the pejorative meaning which is deviant.

(And even I get confused often over SF, whether it means an American city or a literary genre, and I'm British.)

[1] I'm not convinced that's a word, but it neatly mashes "pejorative orators".

[kayshapero]

[1] I'm not convinced that's a word, but it neatly mashes "pejorative orators"

Whether or not it is, I'm adopting it! :)

You could also mention Yankee...

Anyway, the thing we all need to remember is that not everybody is using the same platform, or viewing the world from the same direction. And that when you've accidentally hurt someone, explaining carefully why they have no right to feel insulted amounts to backing up and running over them again.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

No doubt! My point was that the number of people who'd understand that is pretty small. On the other hand, if you know a lot of those people...

What I was trying to suggest was that many more people would recognize Sci-Fi as an abbreviation for Science Fiction over SF, and that number is hundreds or thousands of times more people than the hard core science fiction fans who subdivide the term because they see a genre difference between STAR WARS and SILENT RUNNING.

Every niche culture has its jargon, but to communicate with the broader society they need to know when to stop using it (or being disappointed when they don't).

[keristor.livejournal.com]

I like the Haynes Owners Workshop Manuals on things like the USS Enterprise (http://www.amazon.co.uk/U-S-S-Enterprise-Manual-Haynes-Workshop/dp/1844259412) (also the Space Shuttle, the Titanic, and other things I'm unlikely to own). Someone (or many) at Haynes are definitely fannish engineer types...