shurely shome mishtake

Pronunciation spelling of surely some mistake. Originally coined by Private Eye in imitation of the slurred speech of a drunken editor, or of the lisping Daily Telegraph editor Bill Deedes.

pronunciation spelling of

[They] were overwhelmed by the buffet, consisting of a "huge bowel [shurely shome mishtake?] of great pink shrimps balanced on their heads, guarded by a three foot ice swan"

1990, Congress for Cultural Freedom, Encounter, volume 74, page 40:

The letter in AI 2.10.97 re the Philips Pavilion makes me wonder again why that 'experience' (copyright PM Millennium Inc) was so easily hated - and panned again by your reviewer. Why, only a few weeks ago your 'Mayo' called it 'Corbusier's Swiss Pavilion'. Shurely shome mishtake?

1997, John McKean, “Hard to see what's in front of your eyes”, in The Architect's Journal, volume 206, page 27:

Surely this was worthy of comment, if not a headline: "UK drink-driving limit allows binge drinking - shurely shome mishtake?"

2004, Paul Blezard, “Binge and Drive”, in New Scientist, number 2464:

The Star also reports: "A public farewell is being planned next week in Brisbane's football stadium to accommodate all his millions of fans." The Wrap is not sure how big the stadium is, but thinks this might be a case of shurely shome mishtake?

2006 September 13, Mark Oliver, “The Wrap - No Love Lost”, in The Guardian:

(UK, informal) Highlights a mistake, actual or perceived, which the writer feels is ironic or humorous.


shome mishtake shurely

shurely shome mishtake
shurely shome mishtake#English

Alternative form of shurely shome mishtake


Ugandan discussions

Now that Andy has dispensed with her services, Grovel can reveal that the former soft-porn star was enjoying Ugandan discussions in St Moritz last Christmas with Lome Thyssen, 20-year-old son of the multi-millionaire steel tycoon Baron Heini Thyssen.

1983, Private Eye, numbers 550-575, page 215:

A letter came back on Department of Education notepaper. "Very sorry I can't do lunch. I am usually engaged in Ugandan discussions at lunchtime. I will be happy to see you in the evening."

2009, Ion Trewin, Alan Clark: The Biography, →ISBN:

Boys make gay jokes about most other boys, without any implication that any genuine Ugandan discussions take place.

2010, Tom Bennett, The Behaviour Guru: Behaviour Management Solutions for Teachers, →ISBN, page 164:

(UK, euphemistic, humorous) Sexual intercourse.


discuss Uganda

en-verb

discuss Uganda (third-person singular simple present discusses Uganda, present participle discussing Uganda, simple past and past participle discussed Uganda)

discusses Uganda (present singular third-person)
discussing Uganda (participle present)
discussed Uganda (participle past)
discussed Uganda (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-discuss Uganda.wav

Coined by Private Eye in reference to an alleged tryst between journalist Mary Kenny and a politician, after which Kenny claimed she was merely "upstairs discussing Uganda".

IMHO she just devalues the rest of us who want to be judged by what we do and what we are, not how we look and who we discuss Uganda with.

1995 April 27, Helen Gerald, “Re: Liz Hurley”, in rec.arts.tv.uk (Usenet), message-ID <1bd766f1e95e31fd>:

If both [doors] are closed (leaving a small gap between them, that is) it means the occupant is away, studying hard and not wishing to be disturbed, discussing Uganda with a member of the opposite sex (or even, fwankly Wupert, the same one), or enduring a hangover from hell [...]

2007, Benedict Le Vay, Eccentric Cambridge, →ISBN, page 257:

The antipasto often features fettunta—thin slices of Tuscan bread toasted and salted (the bread itself is unsalted) and perhaps rubbed with garlic (you may prefer to rub it on for yourself, or not if you're due to discuss Uganda or have an interview with Silvio Berlusconi)

2009, Nicholas Belfrage, The Finest Wines of Tuscany and Central Italy, →ISBN, page 312:

(UK, informal, euphemistic) To have sex.


exotic cheroot

But some busybody got a whiff of an exotic cheroot and the place was closed down.

No sweet scent of the exotic cheroot taints the air, there are scarcely even any smokers, and no one seems to be employing the men's room either to take on fuel or to make a brisk exchange of spermatozoa.

1994, Christopher Hitchens, “Warhol in One Dimension”, in For the Sake of Argument: Essays and Minority Reports, →ISBN, page 283:

'This friend of yours must have been smoking exotic cheroots while writing to you,' reads the note and I laugh out loud, especially as the letter comes from Chuck Pfeifer.

1994, Taki, Nothing to Declare, →ISBN, page 188:

(UK, euphemistic) Cannabis, a joint of cannabis.


nekomimi

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-nekomimi.wav

From Japanese 猫耳 (nekomimi), from 猫 (neko, “cat”) + 耳 (mimi, “ear”).

Thank you, Galen - I was pretty sure that she wasn't really a nekomimi, but this gives me some proof.

2005 February 17, Rob Kelk, “Re: DiGi Charat without her hat”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

(chiefly Japanese fiction, by extension) A fictional character who has cat ears on an otherwise human body, and possibly other feline characteristics such as a tail.


catperson

I haven't seen one of my earliest acquaintances in the game, a catperson berserker named Silverkat, since Ugeta was just a lowbie.

2012, Timothy Rowlands, Video Game Worlds: Working at Play in the Culture of, EverQuest, Left Coast Press, →ISBN, page 69:

(fiction) An anthropomorphic feline, or a person who has characteristics of a cat on an otherwise human body, such as cat ears and a cat tail.

katmens

anthropomorphic feline, or person with characteristics of a cat


tiger mom

The message to tiger moms: telling your kids that failure is not an option does not set them up for success.

2012 March 30, Stefanie Weisman, “Taming the Tiger of Achievement”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 2012-05-17:


pocketphone

(dated or science fiction) A telephone that fits in one's pocket; a mobile phone.


retrofuturism

Even the aesthetics of its interface, with a kind of Star Trek-like retrofuturism, makes users feel as if their computer is doing the things we imagined computers would be doing, rather than the humdrum business of typing, filing and storing.

2006, David Bell, Science, Technology and Culture, Open University Press, →ISBN, pages 89–90:

The revival of historical conceptions of the future in media and design.


little black dress

en-noun

little black dress (plural little black dresses)

When dressing up for a night out, let's not forget the sex appeal, allure, and slenderizing effect of ultrasheer black hosiery under that little black dress.

2012, Rebecca Apsan, Lessons in Lingerie: Finding Your Perfect Shade of Seduction:

A simply cut and often quite short evening or cocktail dress.

The F-bomb is the little black dress of vulgarity. Noun, verb, participle, verbal noun — it goes with everything.

2013 April 24, Alexandra Petri, “The peculiar brilliance of that sorority e-mail”, in The Washington Post:

Who, excepting fictional fanged creatures of the night, doesn't love a bit of garlic? It goes in anything and is like the little black dress of the food world.

2014 August 13, Sarah Hazelwood, “5 of the Best…Fruits and Vegetables to grow this August”, in Buzz, page 27:

While Phelps might have been the headliner, Ledecky became the little black dress of American swimming; unpretentious, regal and ridiculously versatile.

2014 August 10, Karen Crouse, “After Tuneup for Trials, American Swimmers Evaluate Potential”, in The New York Times:

(figuratively) Something simple, versatile, and elegant; something that pairs well with many other things.

I've seen Snape/Loki. Little Black Dresses, both of them. They'll go with anybody.

2018 September 23, Marion Beet (@Knitronomicon), Twitter:

Sansa is SUCH a good little black dress. I honestly would read almost any character in GOT with her.

2021 March 24, acequeenking (@acequeenkingpin), Twitter:

Brienne is my little black dress of GOT/ASOIAF. I am happy to read fic with her shipped with many many many characters.

2021 September 24, captainellie (@captainecomb), Twitter:

(fandom slang) A character who is shipped with many other characters.


atmo

(science fiction) atmosphere (of a planet)


Poochie-fication

From Poochie, a character added to boost the ratings of the fictional Itchy and Scratchy Show in The Simpsons episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", + -fication.

In case you're wondering, that extra, 3rd dimension they're going to be adding to the bears is going to be made entirely out of neon, sunglasses, and highlights for the fur of Mama and Sister. Basically, it's Poochie-fication of the Berenstain Bears.

2009 November 3, Amelie Gillette, “Berenstain Bears Movie To Change The Way You Think About Anthropomorphic Bears”, in The Onion AV Club:

In the 90s, this Poochie-fication of comics — wherein many titles grew consistently and thoroughly EXTREEEEME — reached its zenith.

2010 September 29, Glen Weldon, “In Praise of M.O.D.O.K: Why Gleefully Goofy Beats Broodingly Brutal”, in National Public Radio:

It’s rare when the Poochie-fication of a character actually works, but it totally did with Kyle Rayner. Rather than the earnest, Silver Age Hal Jordan, backed up by thousands of Corps members, and knowing what his job and destiny was, Rayner was given a ring by a dying Guardian, left alone as the last Green Lantern.

2011 June 16, Alex Zalban, “The 10 Best Green Lanterns Of All Time”, in MTV, archived from the original on 2011-12-26:

(entertainment, derogatory, uncommon) The process of adding a new character to a work of fiction, or altering characters already present, in a bid to make the work cooler or more extreme.


Phaëton

A hypothetical planet between Mars and Jupiter, whose destruction led to the production of the asteroid belt.


Potterhead

Potter + -head, possibly by analogy with pothead.

Yesterday's news that Universal Studios was planning to open "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" in 2009 will have prodded the shriek-buttons of millions of young Potterheads, whose relentless campaign for a "really fun holiday this time, Daaad" will have ratcheted forward a few more irreversible notches.

2007 June 1, Pat Kane, “Are They Potty?”, in The Guardian:

Her infectious enthusiasm has brought many knitters (like Alison Hansel!) into the Potterhead fold and has introduced Potterheads into the world of knitting.

2007, Alison Hansel, Charmed Knits: Projects for Fans of Harry Potter, page 164:

"Happiness x10000," wrote one fan on learning of Rowling's new project. "IT'S LIKE POTTERHEAD CHRISTMAS!" said another.

2012 April 16, Alison Flood, “Harry Potter encyclopedia in progress, says JK Rowling”, in The Guardian:

(informal, fandom slang) One who loves the Harry Potter series of books, the Potterverse, and/or the Wizarding World Rowling-created franchise, especially to a fanatical degree.


-verse

Women's lib in the BSGverse.

2008, Lynnette Porter, David Lavery, Hillary Robson, Finding Battlestar Galactica, page 150:

This is Uhura's – and Uhura's fans' – big moment, the moment in which she blazingly comes alive as a member of the Trekverse.

2009, David Greven, Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek, page 216:

Forming compounds nouns denoting the fictional world of a given character, television series etc.


kwyjibo

Taken from a nonsense word (supposedly meaning "A big, dumb, balding North American ape with no chin and a short temper") used in the 1990 episode "Bart the Genius" of the TV show The Simpsons.

On the Kwyjibo.... On steps 2-4, I've been raising my left (free) hand, swinging the yo overto^([sic]) the right and then bringing my right hand over under it.

1999, mike, “pocket rocket....”, in alt.sport.yo-yo (Usenet):

I have been yo-yoing for just over 1 year now, I have just recently learned kwyjibo, white buddha, and other tricks but I can't sleep a yo-yo for over a minute, without an amazing throw […]

2000, Allen MacInnis, “Anyone know how to sleep a yo-yo for a long time??”, in alt.sport.yo-yo (Usenet):


kaiju

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-kaiju.wav

From Japanese 怪獣 (かいじゅう, kaijū), from Middle Chinese 怪 (kˠuɛiᴴ, “strange, fantastic”) + 獸 (ɕɨuᴴ, “beast”) (compare Mandarin 怪獸 /怪兽 (guàishòu)).

bor

かいじゅう, kaijū

compound

The resurrections of Mothra, the giant butterfly in Japanese kaiju movies, are treated as colourful religious events, glitter falling upon fat children as the fluffy-faced behemoth dries its wings.

2015, Steve Aylett, Heart of the Original, Unbound, page 117:

A giant monster, particularly of the kind found in Japanese science fiction films, like Godzilla or Gamera.


dragonette

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-dragonette.wav

(small dragon):

(female dragon):

And I really don't know how to say this, except to say that this dragoness is seriously luscious. Maybe that's a terrible thing to say because I'm dying and all, but there it is. This is one seriously juicy-looking dragonette.

2018, Gabe Hudson, “What a Fitting Place for me to Die, Here in the Belly of the Beast”, in Gork, the Teenage Dragon, page 202:


Pleiadean

(science fiction, ufology) An alien being from the Pleiades.


slashzine

There's also a healthy B7 [Blake's 7] slashzine community.

1994, William James Moyer, “Sinclair vs. Avon (?!)”, in rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5 (Usenet):

Slashzines based on Dark Shadows characters are rare; most Dark Shadows fans have never even heard of them.

1998, Cheryl Harris, Alison Alexander, Theorizing fandom: fans, subculture, and identity:

That's why all the SW [Star Wars] slashzines are pubbed underground -- there is no sex, let alone kinky sex, in the SW universe, and by damn LucasArts is gonna see that it stays that way!

2000, Rez, “New Napster Software but for DOOM LEVELS”, in rec.games.computer.doom.misc (Usenet):


commlink

A great aurora spread across the heavens, and the Thukker infantrymen lost all hope as their commlinks went dead and the TACNET dropped offline. In that moment, each man understood that they were doomed.

2008, Tony Gonzales, Eve: The Empyrean Age:

Sheppard removed his commlink unit and attempted to access the engineering duty officer to report the occurrence.

(science fiction) A communications device.


eyephone

One system in the works in this country would have us wearing "eyephones," a helmet-like apparatus with a small TV screen […] With the eyephones, each eye will receive only one field, but filters will adjust the picture.

1979, Science digest: Volume 86, Issue 2:

Further along on the "naturalness of use" continuum are today's working VR projects where users are tethered by devices such as eyephones and datagloves.

1993, Diane M. Gayeski, Multimedia for Learning: Development, Application, Evaluation, page 82:

State-of-the-art eyephones (head mounted visual displays) are not considered to be suitable for providing a realistic or natural visual environment.

1997, Dafydd Gibbon, Roger Moore, Richard Winski, Spoken Language Characterisation, page 185:

The key element in this group of technologies is 'automatic head position tracking', which allows the wearer of an eyephone to scan a computer-generated landscape in a quasi-natural way.

1998, Richard Gough, Ric Allsopp, Claire MacDonald, On Tourism, page 12:

He locked the door, put the CLOSED sign up, and went into the back room where he found the boy still seated, cross-legged, as he'd left him, his face hidden by the massive old eyephones cabled to the open notebook in his lap.

1999, William Gibson, All Tomorrow's Parties:

“That apparatus you see on his head is an eyephone. Inside it are tiny video screens that are transmitting to its wearer images of an opponent on the other end […]

2008, Thomas Quealy, Is That You?, page 87:

(sometimes science fiction) A device that allows the wearer to watch video material as if immersed in the world being shown.


vidphone

1989, Ron Goulart (ghostwriting for William Shatner), TekWar
The vidphone screen remained blank. “You're looking good, Jake, looking very good all things considered.” “Wish I could say the same for you, Wiz. Why the blackout?” “Reasons, I got my reasons,” came the whispering voice […]


brony

Blend of bro + pony, the earliest documented use dates to the 25th of October 2010 on the 4chan image boards.

But Sethisto thinks that for him and his fellow bronies, the show has "evolved way past being just another 22-minute commercial. They gave the team enough freedom to really make it awesome."

2011 September 7, Jaime Weinman, “Men who love ‘My Little Pony’”, in Maclean's, →ISSN:

(fandom slang) A (usually major, often male) fan of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, typically an adult male.

ব্রনি

fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic


tragic flaw

When a heroine's tragic flaw takes the form of uncontrollable love for an outlaw, the paths of momentary glory can lead but to defeat.

1948 May 31, Harold V. Cohen, "'Green Grass of Wyoming'" (film review), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, p. 28 (retrieved 5 July 2012)

If the jury, who begin their final deliberations tomorrow, find the black All-American hero guilty of murdering his white wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, they will have concluded that he succumbed to the oldest tragic flaw in the book, the green-eyed monster of jealousy.

1995 October 1, John Carlin, “OJ's guilt is a black and white choice”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 2012-07-05:

The control-freak instinct runs too deep. . . . This runs the risk of becoming a tragic flaw.

2002 February 25, J. F. O. McAllistair, “Blair the Bungee Jumper”, in Time:

(chiefly literary criticism) A personality trait or other characteristic of a real or fictional individual which is immoral, destructive, or otherwise faulty and which leads to the ruin or profound suffering of that individual.


land of milk and honey

From English translations of Exodus 3:7-8. Calque of Biblical Hebrew אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ.

calque

אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ

Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.”

An imaginary or real land of abundance, particularly the Land of Israel.

tejjel-mézzel folyó Kánaán

as a saying than the literal tejjel-mézzel folyó föld/ország


Twitard

From twilight + -tard, after the pattern of Twihard.

If I go missing, please reference this, as Twitards have more than likely kidnapped me, all because I seem to be the one person on the planet not to understand the vampire hype.

2010, Felicia Mancini, “2009: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly”, in View Magazine, 7 January - 13 January 2010 issue:

(slang, derogatory) An avid fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight book series or the associated films.


wanderstar

From wander + star, probably a calque of German Wandelstern (“planet”). Compare the historic term wandering star, like the German term ultimately a calque from Ancient Greek.

He had thumbed about in Chants of a Wander-Star last night in bed and wondered about the career of that marginal versifier — born out of his proper time and now remembered by Ackley in an era even less proper.

1994, Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror:

A thin scythe of moon was rising, near the white wanderstar of dawn or dusk.

He passed gulls, terns, cormorants as if they were standing still. Now and then a wander-star crossed the heavens: one of the metal eyes the ancients hung over Alifros to spy on their enemies.

2009, Robert V. S. Redick, The Red Wolf Conspiracy:

(science fiction, fantasy) A wandering star or other similar heavenly body; a comet; meteor; planet.


worldmaking

The creation of a world, as for example in writing fiction.


mersnake

From mer- + snake. Compare Middle English mereneddre (“sea-snake, lamprey”), from Old English merenǣddra, merenǣddre, merenǣdre (“lamprey, sea snake”, literally “sea-adder”).


icedrake

Rearing back its awesome spined and crested head, the icedrake roared — in challenge, maybe, or in scorn of the little scraps of humankind who cowered beneath the shadow of its wings […]

1987, Peter Morwood, The Dragon Lord, Daw Books, →ISBN, page 38:

(fantasy) A dragon which breathes ice or has a freezing body temperature.


ghost rocket

A poem in Copenhagen’s Berlingske Tidende, July 31, 1946, last page, made reference to a recent sensational ghost rocket sighting over Byen, expressing relief that the “rocket” was actually a meteor:

2001, Robert E. Bartholomew, Little Green Men, Meowing Nuns, and Head-hunting Panics: A Study of Mass Psychogenic Illness and Social Delusion, McFarland, page 273:

Many ghost rocket sightings came from Sweden, which is near the Soviet Union. U.S. and British officials convinced the Swedes to study reports of the ghost rockets. The Swedes found pieces of metal that they though came from crashed ghost rockets.

2011, Michael Burgan, Andrew Nichols, Searching for Aliens, UFOs, and Men in Black, Capstone Press, page 11:

The Swedish experts claimed that some 20 percent of the ghost rocket reports appeared to be neither aircraft nor natural phenomena.

2012, Ronald Story, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters, Constable & Robinson Ltd, page 243:

unidentified flying objects
unidentified flying objects

(ufology) Any of the rocket- or missile-shaped unidentified flying objects sighted in 1946, mostly in Sweden and nearby countries.

spökraket

rocket shaped UFOs sighted in 1946 in Sweden


black triangle

Somewhere behind that blinking yellow light that black triangle was hovering, (or moving only a few miles per hour), in our direction, straight at us.

2005, Bill Foster, Peggy Foster, Nadine Wheeler, The Black Triangle Abduction, The Invisible College Press, page 22

Note: The black triangle is a commonly seen UFO.

2007, Craig R. Lang, The Cosmic Bridge, Close Encounters and Human Destiny, lulu.com, page 4:

On Thursday, July 15, 2004, I flew to Denver, Colorado, where I was scheduled to speak at the annual symposium of the Mutual UFO Network on the subject of a particular type of UFO that has become known as the “Black Triangle,” and one that has been seen regularly in the skies of practically every corner of the planet for approximately the last two decades.

2009, Nick Redfern, Memoirs of a Monster Hunter, ReadHowYouWant.com, page 105:

Just three years after the Belgian black triangle incident, a similar craft appeared over RAF Cosford and RAF Shawbury.

2011, William J. Birnes, The Everything UFO Book: An Investigation of Sightings, Cover-ups, and the Quest for Extraterrestrial Life, Adams Media, page 229:

(ufology) One of a class of triangle-shaped unidentified flying objects, usually with a light in each corner.


merdog

Lee drank a potion that helped him to breathe underwater. Beardy then told me I could turn into a merman and Holly could turn into a merdog (like in an old book I've written). So I soon turned into a merman and Holly turned into a merdog.

2010, Steven J. Butler, Jr., The Lost Worlds of Buckstevenson:

Rather than the flayed skin associated with the traditional saint, this Saint Bartholomew holds a sword or trident. Something rests beside his feet—it may be a demon, dolphin, or merdog. This creature is Bartholomew's messenger and servant.

2011, Judika Illes, Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints & Sages:


merlion

/ˈmɜːˌlaɪən/

/ˌmɜːˈlaɪən/

Merlion Park
Singapore River
Singapore Tourism Board

From mer- + lion; sense 1 promoted by the Singapore Tourism Board as the name of a statue installed at the mouth of the Singapore River on 15 September 1972.

In 1995, a second Merlion was built on the island of Sentosa. This new Merlion is actually a 37-metre high panoramic tower, from which it is possible to view mainland Singapore and the Straits of Singapore[…]. A new "ancient legend" was created for this creature with this tower. The legend alleged that the Merlion landed on Sentosa and saved Singapore from a storm. It would save Singapore again if the island ran into trouble (according to a film in the Merlion Tower). […] Some locals are upset by this fabrication. The STB [Singapore Tourism Board] maintains that the Merlion reflects the combination of Singapore's national animal (the lion) and Singapore being an island. Many Singaporeans have come to accept this mythical creature as a quintessential symbol of Singapore. To the unaware tourists, the product was packaged in a convincing manner, with the legend, film clip, and chronotopic dimensions of when and where the Merlion supposedly visited Singapore.

2002, Can-Seng Ooi, Cultural Tourism and Tourism Cultures: The Business of Mediating Experiences in Copenhagen and Singapore, Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press, →ISBN, pages 109–110:

Like Changi Airport or the Merlion, Singlish is something that is quintessentially Singaporean. It is a dialect that everyone speaks and understands and is something that could provide the cornerstone for a unifying cultural identity.

2005, Neil Humphreys, chapter 11, in Notes from an Even Smaller Island: Singapore through a Young Brit’s Eyes, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, →ISBN, page 174:

Yeah, well, he went into a tourist shop, not the one with postcards and plastic Merlions. That one ah, the one in here for the towkays and businessmen for conference centres. They sell gold-plated Merlions, Eiffel Towers and Empire State Buildings, you know.

2015, Neil Humphreys, chapter 9, in Marina Bay Sins, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, →ISBN:

And in the fourteenth century / Because of Nila Utama's river mouth encounter with a merlion / The Lion City surged into being / And its people could travel the wide world

2015, Wong Yoon Wah, “Metamorphosis: Temasek”, in Jeremy Tiang, transl., edited by Gwee Li Sui with Tan Chee Lay, Sa'eda bte Buang, and Azhagiya Pandiyan, Singathology: 50 New Works by Celebrated Singaporean Writers, volume I (Life), Singapore: National Arts Council; Marshall Cavendish Editions, →ISBN, stanza 1 (Temasek):

At his favorite, familiar hotel on busy Orchard Road, he paid his fare, hefted his small bag and walked past the gorgeous garden with flowers and a fountain. Under the spray of water was a statue of the so-called merlion, the mythical beast that was the symbol of the tourist industry here. Its top half was a lion and the bottom half a fish. A couple of years ago, when he'd taken a stuffed merlion home to Lexi, she'd insisted on calling it Lion King Little Mermaid from her two favorite Disney movies at that time.

2016, Karen Harper, chapter 1, in Chasing Shadows (A South Shore Novel), Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin MIRA, →ISBN:

(Singapore) Often Merlion: a symbolic creature having the head of a lion and the body of a fish, which is a national symbol of Singapore; an image, statue, or other depiction of this creature.


draculin

From Dracula + -in, named after Count Dracula.

(organic chemistry, zoology) A glycoprotein with anticoagulant properties, found in the saliva of vampire bats.


Haunebu

This technology led to the amazing German flying saucers of the Haunebu and Vril classes built under SS auspices.

2003, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity, NYU Press, page 295:

[…] and what crashed at Roswell was most likely a Haunebu.

2007, James Sheridan, The Pandora Prescription, Sterling & Ross Publishers, page 17:

However, some weeks after Ger-many surrendered, both Haunebu and Vril craft were spotted in the skies over occupied Germany.

2010, George Romero, The Rescue, Lotus Vision Publishing Company, page 165

(ufology, plural "Haunebus") Any of a class of flying saucers supposedly built by the Nazis.


Vril

Coined by British statesman and author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in the 1871 science fiction novel The Coming Race, later titled Vril, apparently as a clipping of virile.

coined

These subterranean philosophers assert that by one operation of vril, which Faraday would perhaps call ‘atmospheric magnetism,’ they can influence the variations of temperature—in plain words, the weather; […]

1871, Edward Bulwer-Lytton (published anonymously), The Coming Race, Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, page 47:

It devoted its time to the study of vril, and taught that the secret of vril could be divined by contemplating the structure of an apple sliced in half.

2003, John Michael Greer, The New Encyclopedia of the Occult, Llewellyn Publications, page 506:

I have written a second book, Vrilology, which explores the historic background of the Life Force, which we refer to as Vril, and another simple book explaining just what Vril is and how it can help people improve their lives, filling them with happiness, joy and prosperity.

2010, Robert Blumetti, Vril: The Life Force of the Gods, iUniverse, page 7:

(science fiction, mysticism) A controllable form of energy.

Coordinate term: Haunebu

Operation Highjump has turned out to be a hot topic for UFO conspiracy theorists over recent years, who claim it was a secret US military campaign to defeat and destroy supposed secret Nazi facilities in Antarctica and seize the German Vril flying discs, and the Thule mercury propelled spacecraft.

2012, Jack Follett, Special Report 2011: Hitler's Secret UFO Weapons, BoD – Books on Demand, page 38:

(ufology, attributive) A kind of flying saucer supposedly built by the Nazis.


corkindrill

At this the bird became so nervous that it made a mess on Merlyn's head — the whole room was quite white with droppings — and flew off to perch on the farthest tip of the corkindrill's tail, out of reach.

1958, Terence White, The Once and Future King, page 26:

Still, he did give her a good price for the creature, selling it to her under the mistaken impression that it was a corkindrill. Well, of course it was not a corkindrill, although a genuine corkindrill (another of Irene's finds) had shared its crate for approximately fifteen years.

2000, Nancy Kilpatrick, Thomas Roche, Graven images, page 119:

Other beasts, too, roamed at their graceful will across the landscape: the ox and the wide-horned aurochs, the slouching camelopard, the corkindrill — each animal as fat as a burgher and similarly complacent.

2009, Roberta A. MacAvoy, Raphael, page 1:

A mythological reptilian monster of legend, identified with the crocodile.


momager

A growing category of “bad” mother is the so-called “momager,” the woman who interferes with her famous children's affairs, exploits them, and contributes to their tarnished reputations—[...]

2010, Andrea O'Reilly, Encyclopedia of Motherhood:

The most fitting occupation for my mother is no longer a stage actress or momager or anything like that; she would make—she is—a fantastic nurse.

2012, Sarah Wylie, All These Lives, page 184:

The scope of ambition of the Hadids can be seen in the increased visibility of Yolanda, who accompanied Gigi to the Fashion awards, because you are no one without a momager.

2016 December 13, Jess Cartner-Morley, The Guardian:

It seems even Kris Jenner has got the pink memo. The momager followed up Kim's post with her own, sharing a throwback pic of herself in a neon pink '80s swimsuit.

2023 June 14, Alexandria Dale, “Kim Kardashian relaxes poolside in a bright pink thong bikini”, in Women's Health:

(US, slang) A showbusiness manager who is also the performer's mother.


overskies

(science fiction) interplanetary, intergalactic.


overskies

(science fiction) Between planets (in the same or different system).


sellsword

One such warrior was Kothar, cast up by the sea in the northlands of his world, a sellsword and a mercenary, a wencher after the women of his day, a freebooter and a thief, at times, whose sword Frostfire was a magic sword.

1969, Gardner Francis Fox, “Prologue”, in Kothar: Barbarian Swordsman, reprinted in The First Kothar the Barbarian MEGAPACK, Wildside Press, published 2016, →ISBN:

Your profession always charges high and never guarantees their work. No sellsword would stay alive if he demanded a sorcerer's terms.

1982, Robert Lynn Asprin, “Exercise in Pain”, in Storm Season, →ISBN:

The sellsword scrambled backward, checking each blow, stepping lithely over rock and root, his eyes never leaving his foe. He was quicker, Catelyn saw; the knight's silvered sword never came near to touching him, but his own ugly grey blade hacked a notch from Ser Vadis's shoulder plate.

1996, George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire), Bantam Books (2011), →ISBN, pages 367–368:

Bandit: It's those fool villagers...They think they can buy a bunch of sellswords to chase us away.

2005, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, "Chapter 1: The Battle Begins", developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube

Whenever I see Alcides Escobar make another unbelievable play at shortstop, I can’t help but think we got the better of the deal in the trade for Zack Grienke. The money-hungry Grienke is now pitching for the Dodgers and admits he wanted to play for the team that paid him the most cash. A sellsword. A gunslinger for hire.

2013 April 2, Matt Stewart, “Opinion: Royals poised to make the playoffs”, in Fox 4 (Kansas City), archived from the original on 2013-05-31:

Soccer is class warfare, a battle between the haves and the have-nots, and those with more money and resources always win. In soccer, The Empire is undefeated. And José Mourinho, the world's greatest sellsword, the man who has discovered nothing in soccer but how to win, is its face.

2014 April 28, Greg Howard, “José Mourinho Is The Antichrist: A Closet Liverpool Fan's Lament”, in Deadspin, retrieved 2014-11-24:

(by extension figuratively, often derogatory) Someone who only works for money, in the manner of a mercenary.


skyship

(science fiction) A vehicle that flies through the sky.


redskirt

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-redskirt.wav

From red + skirt. Patterned after redshirt, which derived from the tendency for male security officers, who wore red shirts, to die on episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series. Female crew members wore minidresses, but only one red-uniformed female character was killed during the series' run, in the episode "By Any Other Name."

Wasn't there that episode where the aliens turned everyone into little blocks of styrofoam, and one of the aliens turned a redskirt and a redshirt into cubes and crumbled one of them? And then Scotty got really drunk. I seem to recall that the redskirt bought it that time.

2007 February 10, Marc Goodman, “Re: Response to Steven Pinker's 'The Mystery of Consciousness'”, in alt.religion.kibology (Usenet):

(fiction, fandom slang, rare) An unimportant or expendable female character, especially one introduced only to be killed in order to underscore the peril faced by important characters.


pelicanist

From pelican + -ist. Coined by Jerome Clark in reference to claims that Kenneth Arnold’s 1947 UFO sighting was pelicans.

Kottmeyer and others who use the psychosocial hypothesis constantly produce evidence to support their ideas, whereas the ETH proponents can produce only cranky ideas about magnetic, anti-gravity or interdimensional saucers, accompanied by a constant whining about "sceptics" and "debunkers" (not to mention "armchair ufologists" and "pelicanists").

2000 November 22, “Blue Resonant Human” (username), “::: Should Saucers Spin? :::”, in alt.alien.research, Usenet

Meanwhile, those of us who’ve experienced UFOs in various ways are called mentally ill, intellectually challenged, spiritually needy, liars, drunks, drug users, attention getters, drama queens, and more. Those all are worse than being called a thug, skeptibunkie, or Pelicanist. (Pelicanist is a term coined by UFO researcher Jerome Clark.)

2006 September 12, “LordOfThyNight” (username), “The Usual Purple Tinged Hyperbole About UFOs”, in The Paranormal & Ghost Society, Usenet

As opposed to... Skepticism of the pelicanist flavor perhaps ?

2009 November 29, “Tom Booth” (username), “For Serena,”, in alt.fan.landmark, Usenet

(chiefly ufology, derogatory) Someone who attempts to explain away UFO reports by means of any explanation, however illogical.


Tall White

All of the Tall White scout craft were very high performance vehicles.

2007, Charles James Hall, Millennial Hospitality IV: After Hours, AuthorHouse, page 322:

No one is sure when the Tall Whites arrived on earth, some saying in the Pre-Columbian period […]

2007, Gregory L. Reece, UFO religion: inside flying saucer cults and culture, I. B. Tauris, page 76:

However, in the years that followed, such descriptions became so common that this type of alien became known as the Tall White.

2011, Stuart A. Kallen, Aliens, ReferencePoint Press, page 26:

(ufology) A member of a certain race of extraterrestrials


balonium

From baloney + -ium. See baloney (“nonsense”).

I assumed starship fuel (antimatter or balonium) could be produced from electricity with perfect conversion, so it cost exactly what electricity did — good enough for the one-digit-or-so accuracy needed.

1990, Analog science fact, science fiction: Volume 110:

Suppose that we have a Geiger counter and we are able to make measurements, during a ten hour period, of the balonium sample.

1993, American Statistical Association, Proceedings of the Section on Statistical Education:

The data in Table 7.7 were taken for the highly radioactive element balonium-245.

2004, Mark T. Holtzapple, W. Dan Reece, Concepts in Engineering:

List of fictional elements, materials, isotopes and subatomic particles


gray magic

The term “gray” evolved for magic that could be classified as neither white nor black. Minor revenge would be considered a type of gray magic.

2002, Marion Weinstein, Positive Magic: Ancient Metaphysical Techniques for Modern Lives, page 63:

Copper remembered the old Grimoire she and Silver had used to learn gray magic.

2006, Cheyenne McCray, Seduced by Magic, page 3:

(Wicca) Any magic which transcends or blends white magic and black magic.

magia gris

magic which transcends or blends white and black


helijet

Tomiko waited less than an hour, then flew with Harfex to the area where Osden had reported himself the night before. But as the helijet hovered over the sea of purplish leaves, illimitable, impenetrable, she felt a panic despair.

1972, Ursula K. Le Guin, Vaster Than Empires and More Slow:

Suddenly there was a glare of fight and the sound of an explosion from one of the other helijets, the one carrying Blare Oblomot. Heshke gasped with shock, and saw the flaring skeleton of the jet plummeting earthward in the darkness.

2001, Barrington J. Bayley, Collision with Chronos, page 20:

The two men heard a sound from above, and looked up to see three police helijets hovering overhead.

2002, Moss Tosney, The Ten Percent Man, page 572:

(science fiction) A flying vehicle resembling a helicopter and/or a jet.


tupilak

From Greenlandic tupilak or Inuktitut ᑐᐱᓚᒃ (topilak), ᑐᐱᓚᖅ (topilaq).

(Inuit mythology) A monster (either invisible or having a physical form constructed from animal bones, sinew, etc) created in secret by a shaman and sent into the sea to seek and kill a specific enemy.


holovid

/ˈhɒləʊˌvɪd/

4 March, 1973, Harlan Ellison, "The Day I Died"
I was on a publicity tour for the book, fresh from a talk show over holovid.

He motioned at the holovid, still running in the corner.

2003, Liz Moore, Noble Savage, page 200:

He took her over to the holovid projector and she watched the holovids taken by pilots flying along the length of the ship.

2008, Helgard de Barros, The Second Skin, page 164:

(science fiction) A holographic projection of a series of images, like a video recording.


holoprojection

(science fiction) A holographic projection.


holoprojector

“I like to keep an eye on my investments. Including an eye that not everyone knows about, which doesn’t show up unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Garson’s holo crossed the room to stand next to a counter. “I mean, I am an eccentric genius, after all.”
“So you can project yourself throughout this ship? Anywhere?”
“Not everywhere, but I’ve got holo projectors in most places. Paid for them myself.”

2017 November, N. K. Jemisin, Mac Walters, chapter 15, in Mass Effect Andromeda: Initiation, 1st edition (Science Fiction), Titan Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 284–285:

(science fiction) A holographic projector.


nahual

Borrowed from Spanish nahual, from Classical Nahuatl nāhualli (“sorcerer, spirit, animal form a person may take”).

der

They suspected that the man was a nahual.

(Mesoamerican mythology) A person who is able to take an animal form.


slasher movie

Two girls, watching a slasher movie about a psycho in an Edvard Munch Scream mask who calls girls at home and then stabs them to death, get a call from a psycho who shows up in a Scream mask and stabs them to death.

2011 April 15, Richard Corliss, “Movies: Scream 4 — The Ultimate Shriekquel”, in Time:

(film) A horror movie which depicts gory, murderous violence, often including scenes of torture.


ODP

orbital defense platform
orbital defense platform#English

(science fiction) Initialism of orbital defense platform.


Dothraki

Coined by American writer and television producer George R. R. Martin.
Its fictional derivation is borrowed from Dothraki Dothraki (literally “[we] ride”).

bor+

For example, in Dothraki something done in secret is done torga essheyi—literally, “under a roof”.

2010 September-October, Jim Henry, “Dothraki and Esperanto: an interview with language creator David J. Peterson”, in Usona Esperantisto, →ISSN, page 9:

Dothraki has four vowels.

2011 October 15, Stephen D. Rogers, A Dictionary of Made-Up Languages: From Adûnaic to Elvish, Zaum to Klingon— the Anwa (Real) Origins of Invented Lexicons, Avon: Adams Media, →ISBN, →OL, page 54:

You want to learn a really impressive second language? Try Dothraki. Win over any man in my guild.

2012 October 4, “Andy's Ancestry” (2:51), in The Office (US), season 9, episode 3, spoken by Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson):

constructed language
constructed language

A constructed language created for, and spoken in, the Game of Thrones television adaptation in 2011.


romantic comedy

en-noun

romantic comedy (countable and uncountable, plural romantic comedies)

Judging from his new movie, the sublimely silly They Came Together, director and co-writer David Wain is a closet connoisseur of the modern romantic comedy.

2014 June 26, A. A. Dowd, “Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler Spoof Rom-com Clichés in They Came Together”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2017-12-07:

(uncountable) A genre of fiction, especially film, that presents love stories in a humorous and light-hearted way.


Puss in Boots

A 17th-century French literary fairy tale about a cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for his penniless and low-born master.

الْقِطّ ذُو الْحِذَاء

al-qiṭṭ ḏū l-ḥiḏāʔ


skybike

The creature was actually doing a neat job of demolition, using scissorlike claws to chop the sky-bike into small pieces.

1972, Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous With Rama:

(science fiction) A bicycle capable of levitation.


euth

en-verb

euth (third-person singular simple present euths, present participle euthing, simple past and past participle euthed)

euths (present singular third-person)
euthing (participle present)
euthed (participle past)
euthed (past)

Thereafter the job of euthing was transferred to the chief medical officer, who it was felt would have less emotional involvement.

1973, Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama:


Redflower

The respected Redflower was left where she had fallen.

1976, Jack Williamson, The power of blackness, page 105:

(science fiction and modern fairy tales) A female given name.


subuniverse

(science fiction) A universe contained within another universe.


kitchen sink

The noun is derived from kitchen + sink. Sense 2.1 (“miscellaneous item or miscellany”) is probably from everything but the kitchen sink.
The adjective is derived from the noun. Sense 1 (“of or pertaining to a realist style of painting characterized by scenes of dull or untidy domestic interiors of urban working-class people”) was coined by the British art critic David Sylvester (1924–2001) in a December 1954 article entitled “The Kitchen Sink”: see the quotation.
The verb is a back-formation from kitchen-sinking (noun), which is derived from the noun.

back-formation

(by extension, drama, fiction, film, television, originally derogatory) Of or pertaining to a mid-20th-century (especially 1950s–1960s) genre of drama, fiction, etc., in Britain depicting the harsh lives of working-class people; also, of or pertaining to a film, novel, play, etc., of this genre.

työväestön arkielämää käsittelevä

of or pertaining to a genre of drama, fiction, etc., depicting the harsh lives of working-class people; of or pertaining to a film, novel, play, etc., of this genre


antizombie

Let's find that bibulous "antizombie" state of pure experience.

1998, Stuart R. Hameroff, Alfred W. Kaszniak, Alwyn Scott, Toward a Science of Consciousness II, →ISBN:

Finally, in chapter 6 I revisit certain questions, especially concerning the nature of subjectivity, in the context of an exploration of various anti-zombie arguments.

2003, Joseph Levine, Purple Haze: The Puzzle of Consciousness, →ISBN, page 10:

The perfect experiment suggests the anti-zombie: a creature which is conscious, perhaps in just one respect, as in Cohen and Dennett«s isolation of colour consciousness, but gives no sign of it.

2016 -, William Seager, Theories of Consciousness: An Introduction and Assessment, →ISBN:

We must all be functionalists. By demolishing the intuitions, the anti-zombie argument removes what has long been seen as a major problem for physicalism and functionalism. And by bringing out the fact that consciousness depends on a number of different information-processing capacities, that argument hints at what it really is.

2017, Robert Kirk, Robots, Zombies and Us: Understanding Consciousness, →ISBN:

(philosophy) The inverse of the philosophical zombie; an exact duplicate of a human being which certainly and necessarily does have conscious experience, qualia, or sentience.


antizombie

en-adj

antizombie (comparative more antizombie, superlative most antizombie)

more antizombie (comparative)
most antizombie (superlative)

During the second and third volumes of the series, Nathan Mather, a radical antizombie preacher, and his followers become more and more powerful[…]

2011, Joni Richards Bodart, They Suck, They Bite, They Eat, They Kill, page 182:


bluecap

(mythology, mining) A tiny blue-skinned fairy that inhabits a mine and helps the miners.


Stark

* As a Scottish and English surname, from the adjective stark.
* As a Jewish, German, and Swedish surname, from stark (“strong”), related to the above. This surname also appears in Czech and Slovak as Štark.

(fiction) The language spoken in the Ender's Game series, which is nearly identical to American English.


brainwipe

en-verb

brainwipe (third-person singular simple present brainwipes, present participle brainwiping, simple past and past participle brainwiped)

brainwipes (present singular third-person)
brainwiping (participle present)
brainwiped (participle past)
brainwiped (past)

(transitive, science fiction) To mindwipe.


merrow

Hiberno-English, from Irish murúch (“mermaid”).

(Celtic mythology, mythology) A merman or mermaid in Scottish and Irish Gaelic folklore.


parallel world

(science fiction, sciences) A reality or world that exists simultaneously with ours, but independent of it.


paracosmos

Day dreaming and fantasies which are flights into the paracosmos, are an antithesis of creativity which is the most intense land of action.

1961, The American Journal of Psychiatry, volume 117, page 96:

More simply stated, the paracosmos reflects a writer's interest in examining a (generally) rather small number of persons, or types of persons, in a variety of circumstances and relationships: he has marked out a portion of the world as his own and works upon it to make it his.

1975, Roger Johnson, Editha S. Neumann, Guy T. Trail, editors, Molière and the Commonwealth of Letters: Patrimony and Posterity, University Press of Mississippi, page 421:

Such artists tend to create an imaginary world, a paracosmos where good and evil are starkly represented, where evil powers always challenge the good ones and need to be vanquished time and again.

2011, Claire Golomb, The Creation of Imaginary Worlds: The Role of Art, Magic and Dreams in Child Development, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, →ISBN, page 80:

(rare) The realm of imagination; an imaginary world.


paracosm

From English para- (prefix meaning ‘alongside, beside’) (from Ancient Greek παρα- (para-, prefix meaning ‘beside’)) + English cosm(os) (“universe”) (from Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos, “the earth, world; universe”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱems-, *ḱens- (“to put in order”)).

der

Imaginary playmates and paracosms may chiefly represent the vast creative potential of inherently talented people, but in less elaborated forms, they may also represent what childhood imagination can offer to the growing person. Humanity has already benefited from the paracosmic visions of Plato, Thomas More, Aldous Huxley, Thomas Hobbes, Arthur Tappan Wright^([sic – meaning Austin Tappan Wright]) (Islandia), and J. R. R. Tolkien.

1990, Dorothy G. Singer, Jerome L. Singer, “Imaginary Playmates and Imaginary Worlds”, in The House of Make-Believe: Children’s Play and the Developing Imagination, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, →ISBN; paperback edition, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992, →ISBN, page 116:

Occasionally the fantasies of older childhood go well beyond the invention of a pretend friend. In fact, some children, typically at about 9 or 10 years of age, create "paracosms"—entire societies or worlds for the imaginary people to inhabit. [...] How common is it for children to create such elaborate fantasies, and what does the invention of a paracosm say about its creator?

1999, Marjorie Taylor, “Do Older Children and Adults Create Imaginary Companions?”, in Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 136:

As Emily [Brontë] turned in on herself for resources, she created a new paracosm, the Kingdom of Gondal, which she shared with Anne [Brontë]. The paracosm of Gondal became a way of life for the sisters; they shared its secrets for the rest of their lives.

2005, Delmont C. Morrison, Shirley Linden Morrison, Memories of Loss and Dreams of Perfection: Unsuccessful Childhood Grieving and Adult Creativity (Imagery and Human Development Series), Amityville, N.Y.: Baywood Publishing, →ISBN, page 72:

One paracosm in their study was a country called Branmail consisting totally of cats — except for its creator, a six-year-old girl named Holly who had access to the world by scaling a height called Bumpety Banks.

2007, Thomas Armstrong, “Middle Childhood: Entering the Civilized World”, in The Human Odyssey: Navigating the Twelve Stages of Life, New York, N.Y.: Sterling Publishing, →ISBN, page 93:

The children created these inner worlds for a number of reasons, though each paracosm tends to be a long-lasting, heavily structured, and internally consistent.

2010, Sarah Lynne Bowman, “Role-playing as Alteration of Identity”, in The Functions of Role-playing Games: How Participants Create Community, Solve Problems and Explore Identity, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 130:

A detailed imaginary world, especially one created by a child.

exocosm

outside the cosmos, for example parallel universe


Snow Queen

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Snow Queen.wav

A literal translation into English from the original Danish Sneedronningen, from snee (“snow”, an older spelling of sne) + dronning (“queen”) + -en (suffixed definite article) from a fairy tale first published in 1845 by Hans Christian Andersen, based on the struggle between good and evil as experienced by a little boy and girl, Kai and Gerda.

The fur and the cap, which were made entirely of snow, fell off, and he saw a lady, tall and white, it was the Snow Queen.

1872 [1845], H. P. Paull, transl., The Snow Queen, translation of Sneedronningen by Hans Christian Andersen (in Danish):

Daphne wanted to tell her that a Snow Queen can know nothing of love, only of destruction, but she remained silent, just looked away.

2009, Justine Picardie, Daphne, A&C Black, →ISBN:

Tom announces that he doesn't believe in such a thing as a Snow Queen.

2011, Jack Zipes, The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films, Routledge, →ISBN, page 271:

A female fairy tale character with magical power over snow and ice.

مَلِكَة الثَّلْجِ

fairy tale character with power over snow and ice


Bondian

en-adj

Bondian (comparative more Bondian, superlative most Bondian)

more Bondian (comparative)
most Bondian (superlative)

Produced near the end of the blaxploitation cycle, Cleopatra Jones (Jack Starrett, 1973) and Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (Charles Bail, 1975) are two excellent examples of Bondian influence on spy thrillers.

2000, Xavier Mendik, Shocking Cinema of the Seventies: Necronomicon Presents, page 121:

Of or relating to the fictional British secret agent James Bond, the protagonist of a series of books and glamorous action films.


DCU

Desert Camouflage Uniform
w:Desert Camouflage Uniform

(military, US) Initialism of Desert Camouflage Uniform.


DCU

I think the Batcave came from Batman's radio show. Renee Montoya, Harley Quinn from the animated series. Hey, before the Adam West show did anybody know Alfred was British? (maybe.) And a lot of the recent redesigns across the DCU have come from the Timmverse, including Robin's spiffy new duds.

2007 September 29, Denny Colt, “Re: JLA Movie: You Knew It Would Suck But This Badly?”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <1191098202.149049.200890@w3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>:

Initialism of DC Universe; synonym of DCverse.

Coordinate term: MCU

Initialism of DC Cinematic Universe. The DC Comics based interconnected filmic universe to be launched in the 2020s, successor to the defunct DCEU cinematic universe.


sourstuff

From sour + stuff. Calque of German Sauerstoff (“oxygen”) and/or Dutch zuurstof (“oxygen”), both loose loan translations of French oxygène. See oxygen for more.

This is approximately the heat of exploding what the Germans call bang-gas (mixture of sourstuff and waterstuff), the result being liquid.

1887, The Electrical journal, volume 18, page 482:

For an outshow, the gang of water has two waterstuff unclefts bound to one sourstuff uncleft; the gang of rust has two iron and three sourstuff unclefts; [...]

Thus, everyday sourstuff has eight neitherbits with its eight firstbits, but there are also kinds with five, six, seven, nine, ten, and eleven neitherbits. A samestead is known by the tale of both kernel motes, so that we have sourstuff-13, sourstuff-14, and so on, with sourstuff-16 being by far the mostfound.

1997, Poul Anderson, All One Universe, →ISBN:

“Best you and your thane don your sourstuff masks now, Judge Scoglund,” Ankowaljuu said, returning to English so Park and Dunedin could not misunderstand him.

2013, Harry Turtledove & L. Sprague deCamp, Down in the Bottomlands: And Other Places, →ISBN:

(chemistry, nonstandard, science fiction, rare, puristic) Oxygen.


Snapefic

en-noun

Snapefic (countable and uncountable, plural Snapefics)

Okay. I'm a bit of a Snape bore, & have read most of the good and bad ones that come out on ff.net. Here's a biased account of which I think are good.
[…]
 'I was Right' by Earthwalk. Widely considered the best Snapefic ther^([sic]) is.

2001 June 1, Morrighan, “Re: Looking for fanfic recs”, in alt.fan.harry-potter (Usenet):

i.e. I was proposing that Snape might have been attracted to Voldemort as 'the epitome of Dark Magic' rather than to death, torture and disappearances. Though the latter may also have been the case :-)
Glad you like it, as this is the theory I used in my Snapefic..!

2003 January 17, Igenlode, “Re: Why do some people find Snape attractive?”, in alt.fan.harry-potter (Usenet):

But with non-slash & non-porno, the best Snapefic I've read is "A Father's Sin" by Severitus, […] in which the professor discovers an unlikely student at Hogwarts is his son.

2003 May 12, Tennant Stuart, “Re: Harry Potter fanfics”, in alt.fan.harry-potter (Usenet):

(countable, Harry Potter fandom slang) A fanfic in which Severus Snape, of the Harry Potter series, is the protagonist.

LOL!! And she'd be right, too, if she did-- I've seen the film once before I started reading Snapefic and once since. [Professor Snape] seemed pretty slashable the first time, but the second time through-- oh my.

2001 November 25, ellen_fremedon, “OT snapefic Re: NEW DS9/VOY 1/1 "Toast" [PG]”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

Am coming back into HP fanficdom after a while away, & wondered if anyone could recommend some good recent Snape fanfics, as all the good Snape authors I know seem to be in hiding or no longer writing. I've found a lot of utter drivel out there, but little or no good recent Snapefic, & was wondering if anyone knew whether any of the Snapefic written in the last 10 months or so is good to outstanding.

2002 December 3, Morrighan, “Fanfic recs please - Snape”, in alt.fan.harry-potter (Usenet):

I suppose the reason so many Snapefic writers pair him up with Hermione is that she's really the only choice unless you're going to introduce an original character. In the long run, I don't see the age difference being a problem because of how long wizards live. In the short run, yeah, I could see Snape getting frustrated rather often with being the only adult in the relationship.

2003 April 4, Rebecca Webb, “Re: More Potter y\n?”, in alt.fan.harry-potter (Usenet):

(uncountable, Harry Potter fandom slang) Such fan fiction collectively.


creepypasta

creepypasta (countable and uncountable, plural creepypastas)

→ Polish: creepypasta

→ Spanish: creepypasta

→ Russian: крипипа́ста (kripipásta)

→ Korean: 크리피파스타 (keuripipaseuta)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-creepypasta.wav

After the pattern of copypasta, substituting creepy for copy. Originated from 4chan’s /x/ (paranormal) board sometime around 2007.
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der.
Proto-Germanic *kreupaną
Proto-West Germanic *kreupan
Old English crēopan
Middle English crepen
English creep
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Germanic *-gaz
Proto-West Germanic *-g
Old English -iġ
Middle English -y
English -y
English creepy
Middle English copien
English copy
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kweh₁t-der.
Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō)
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Ancient Greek -τός (-tós)
Ancient Greek παστός (pastós)
Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)bor.
Late Latin pasta
Old French pastebor.
Middle English paste
English paste
English copy-pasteblend.
Late Latin pasta
Italian pastabor.
English pastablend.
English copypasta
English creepypasta

etymon

The video is part of a growing phenomenon making its way around message boards and e-mail chains called “creepypasta” — bite-sized bits of scariness that have joined the unending list of things-to-do-when-you’re-bored-at-work.

2010 November 14, “Bored at Work? Try Creepypasta, or Web Scares”, in The New York Times, Austin Considine:

The game was born from the familiar 'Slenderman' image, which you may or may not be familiar with from internet memes and creepypasta horror stories.

2012 September 14, Kaz Scattergood, “Spooked by Slender, Fuse (Sheffield Students' Union)”, in magazine, volume 9, number 49, page 2:

"[…] Listen to the nineteen personal creepypasta-style stories to piece together the mysterious events of that fateful night in 1898, when twelve orphans simply… disappeared!"

2013 September 13, “Huntsman: The Orphanage”, in Adventure Lantern, number 46, page 7:

The eerie “Lavender Town” theme has infiltrated the nightmares of an entire generation of children and has even inspired one of the most well known “creepypastas” on the Internet.

2013 November 14, Joey Dussault, “The 10 Best Original Soundtracks In The Gaming World”, in Tastemakers Magazine (Northeastern University), number 33, page 11:

A friend pointed her to Creepypasta, a collection of user-generated horror fan sites in which written, Photoshopped, and videotaped accounts of encounters with monsters and supernatural evil are presented as “real” in the form of encyclopedia entries, testimonials, and other “documentary” evidence.

2015 August 24, Lisa Miller, “Slender Man Is Watching”, in New York Magazine, page 62:

(Internet slang) Frightening urban legends and short stories in the horror genre, circulated on the Internet.


ghostlore

From ghost + lore (“learning, knowledge”).

Three other sections of the state are important in this connection: the Adirondack Mountains and parts of the Catskills, which while sparsely settled and only slightly represented in this collection, have much good ghostlore yet to be collected.

1982, Louis Clark Jones, Three Eyes on the Past:

When one person tells another of a frightening experience, he is passing on ghostlore.

1995, Charles Edwin Price, Haunted Tennessee:

From ruthless gangsters to restless mail order kings, from the Fort Dearborn Massacre to the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, the phantom remains of the passionate people and volatile events of Chicago history have made the Second City second to none in the annals of American ghostlore.

2004, Ted Okuda, Jack Mulqueen, The Golden Age of Chicago Children's Television:

Ghost stories and tales of railroad heroics and tragedy may have mixed to create this unique type of ghostlore.

2019, Matthew L. Swayne, Haunted Rails: Tales of Ghost Trains, Phantom Conductors, and Other Railroad Spirits, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN:


high angel

From Middle English heh-engel, from Old English hēahengel (“archangel”).

And blessed art thou that diddest believe. For all things that have been spoken to thee from our Lord shall be performed. Second, that the angel Gabriel, which spake to the virgin, was an high angel, and an high messenger.

1856, Charles Lloyd, Formularies of Faith Put Forth by Authority During the Reign of Henry VIII:

In that night his Excellency also met the Taker-away-of-life ; and he begged of that high angel, "When thou takest away the souls of my people, do so easily, kindly, and gently."

1889, Sigismund Wilhelm Koelle, Mohammed and Mohammedanism:

Nor, again, would anybody guess, without previous knowledge or elucidation, that a highwayman was a kind of robber, a high-head a kind of coiffare, a high-low a kind of boot, a high-man a kind of loaded die, or that, when our ancestors spoke of a high-father, a high-angel, and a high-bishop, they meant a patriarch, an archangel, and an archbishop respectively.

1889, Proceedings of the Liverpool Literary & Philosophical Society - Volumes 43-44 - Page 172

Such a man continues to progress in this state till an imperceptible [tru]th opens between his mind and the minds of the seraphic order of high angels.

1965, The Islamic literature - Volume 11 - Page 31

Many foretell Michael's tide far and wide five nights on past the equinox when earls and ceorls keep harvest time with the high angel's feast remembered together throughout the land.

2003, Cyril Roy Hart, Learning and culture in late Anglo-Saxon England and the influence of Ramsey Abbey on the major English monastic schools:

Vohumano came to be considered, first as one of the highangels attendant on him, and then formally as one of his six councillors.

2004, George Rawlinson, The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World:

The high angel, Michael, flanked by the two commanders, continued his relentless attack bearing grimly and deliberately down upon the two dark leaders, Python and Jezebel.

2008, Miriam E. Bellamy, Demons in the Sanctuary:

As Sagittarius examined the pictures, the writer told of meeting both a High Angel, one named Tyrrell, and an Arch Demon, a Seraph, one of the four Seraphim who fell in the rebellion. Sag thought about the matter. A third of Heaven.

2008, Merrll O'Brian, 665 the Council Of: (Part One) - Page 241:

So to Keil and a host of others he is the preincarnate Christ, while Michael is a high angel.

2010, Merrill C. Tenney, The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 4:


telebooth

One point three parsecs from Earth a heartbeat was being monitored by an Amneshahn telebooth.

2005, J. E. Hoyes, The Empath of Amneshah, Book One: Turba, page 3:

We have telebooths that take us considerable distances in an instant.

2007, Charles Edward Harris, Suns of God, page 196:

(science fiction) A booth from which one can teleport to another location.


Disneyesque

en-adj

Disneyesque (comparative more Disneyesque, superlative most Disneyesque)

more Disneyesque (comparative)
most Disneyesque (superlative)

This place is EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World, a theme park cum world exposition, a kind of world's fair that allows for a continual Disneyesque rewriting of history, a Distory, as Stephen Fjellman has called it. Disney World offers its guests multiple pleasures within the context of Disneyesque representations of race and gender.

1995, Ramona Fernandez, “Pachuco Mickey”, Elizabeth Bell, Lynda Haas, Laura Sells (ed.), From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture, Indiana University Press, part 3, chapter 15, 236

In Ms. Murray’s mature work, eccentrically shaped or multipanel canvases fused Cubism’s shattered forms and Surrealism’s suggestive biomorphism with the scale and some of the angst of Abstract Expressionism and more than a touch of Disneyesque humor and motion.

2007 August 13, Roberta Smith, “Elizabeth Murray, 66, Artist of Vivid Forms, Dies”, in New York Times:

Reminiscent of the work or style of the animator Walt Disney or his Walt Disney Company.


Disneyan

Disneyan (comparative more Disneyan, superlative most Disneyan)

more Disneyan (comparative)
most Disneyan (superlative)

Of or relating to the American animator Walt Disney or his Walt Disney Company.

迪士尼的

of or relating to Walt Disney or his Walt Disney Company


HBP

Human Brain Project
w:Human Brain Project

(information science, neuroinformatics) Initialism of Human Brain Project.


Blitzen

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Blitzen.wav

First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. Named from Dutch bliksem (“lightning”), and perhaps influenced by the German form Blitz.

The eighth and last reindeer of Santa Claus.

A Visit from St. Nicholas
Santa Claus's reindeer


counter-earth

To the same period may perhaps belong the theory that the comet is a separate planet; this eighth planet might serve, when the counter-earth had been discarded, to maintain the number ten in regard to the heavenly bodies.

1881, Eduard Zeller, Sarah Frances Alleyne, A History of Greek Philosophy:

The report of Aristotle and Philip of Opus, that the higher frequency of lunar than of solar eclipses was explained by the presence of the counter-earth, and perhaps also other earth-like bodies in space, takes us into a similar context.

1972, Walter Burkert, Lore and Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism, page 344:

The interposition of the counter-earth between the sun and the moon is the cause of their eclipses. And just as our earth has a counter-earth, each planet has a counter-planet, a planetary companion (as Bruno would say in his later works), which revolves with the other one on the same circle but at the opposite end of its diameter.

2016, Miguel Á. Granada, Patrick J. Boner, Dario Tessicini, Unifying Heaven and Earth, page 126:

A hypothetical planet sharing an orbit with the earth, but on the opposite side of the sun.

ἀντίχθων

a hypothetical planet sharing an orbit with the earth


starliner

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-starliner.wav

(science fiction) A large starship capable of transporting many passengers.


thaumavore

From Ancient Greek θαῦμα (thaûma, “magic”) + -vore.

af

Major Transformation: […] Thaumavore (Su): Alterations to the mongrel’s blood and magical aura causes her to leech energy from spells cast upon her; the mongrel gains 5 temporary hit points whenever a spell is cast upon her and heals 1 point of ability damage.

2014, Bloodforge, Dreamscarred Press, page 94

"IT IS THE APEX PREDATOR OF THE MAGICAL FOOD CHAIN. A THAUMAVORE WITH AN APPETITE THAT CANNOT EVER BE SATED.

2021 (2022), Jed MacKay, Death of Doctor Strange

(fantasy) An animal or lifeform that feeds off of magic or magical energy as the main part of its diet.


Metropolis

A city, the county seat of Massac County, Illinois, United States.

A ghost town in Elko County, Nevada, United States.

My city need a hero, so I treat it like Metropolis / And it's a few bad Lois Lanes I can't name

2012, “Higher”, in Detroit, performed by Big Sean:

(fiction) A fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of Superman.


mommy porn

Now, as she turned the page of her book, a “mommy porn” title on every national bestseller list, she sneaked a peek at her in-flight neighbor's face.

2012, Emily Ryan-Davis, Tangled & Bound, Ellora's Cave Publishing, published 2012, →ISBN:

The sadomasochistic antics in EL James's 'mommy porn' book Fifty Shades of Grey have made it a phenomenon, despite the appalling writing.

2012 April 13, Laura Barnett, “Mommy porn?: Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James: review”, in The Telegraph:

Countless newspapers across the country reported on this “mommy porn” trend, since the majority of its audience seemed to be suburban housewives.

2013, Nicole Cammorata, Words You Should Know 2013: The 201 Words from Science, Politics, Technology, and Pop Culture That Will Change Your Life This Year, Adams Media, published 2013, →ISBN, page 101:

(informal, neologism) A genre of mainstream erotic literature that primarily appeals to the sensibilities of mothers and housewives.


grimdark

/ˈɡɹɪmˌdɑɹk/

From grim (adjective) + dark (adjective), inspired by the tagline of the tabletop strategy game Warhammer 40,000 (its rulebook first published in September 1987): “In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.”

(literature) The literary genre of speculative fiction that is amoral, dystopian, or violent.


frat lit

From the English word frat (meaning immature juvenile adult male university student when used pejoratively), + lit as an abbreviation for the English word literature.

(slang) Literature perceived to appeal to, or be marketed at, young men or bros, typically concerning violence, adventure, war, and military themes.


genderland

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-genderland.wav

From gender + land, perhaps modelled on wonderland.

1996, Niela Miller, Counseling in genderland: a guide for you and your transgendered client:

2003, Cathryn Platine, Cathy's adventure in genderland: cautionary tales for anyone thinking about getting involved in trans-politics or support groups:

In the western hemisphere there is a need to date all descriptions concerning diversities in genderland.

2003, Carol R. Ember, Melvin Ember, Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender, page 226:

2005, Richard J. Novic, Alice in Genderland: A Crossdresser Comes Of Age, →ISBN:

(literary) An imagined land which is a corporealization of gender stereotypes, transgender issues, etc.


Stygian

Stygians – natives of Styx

1940, Edmond Hamilton, Calling Captain Future, page 55:

(science fiction) An inhabitant of Styx (a moon of Pluto).


cyberpath

Claire nodded, remembering that Micah was, in essence, a cyberpath. He could mentally convince electronics and machines to do pretty much whatever he wanted.

2015, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Heroes Reborn - Book 5: Save The Cheerleader, Destroy The World:

(parapsychology, science fiction) A person with techno-telepathic ability, capable of reading the electrical signals of electronic devices (such as computers) around them.


technopath

(parapsychology, science fiction) A person with techno-telepathic ability, capable of reading the electrical signals of devices, such as computers, around them.


monsterling

"They will know something is wrong, for the brute would not willingly have left her side. Odd that it did not fight you." The blunt-nose, slope-browed face of the monsterling was inscrutable, scarlet eyes inhuman and feral in the glow of the fire.

“My apologies, good monsterling. It was an accident.”

2006, Martin H. Greenberg, Brittiany A. Koren, Fantasy Gone Wrong:


yuki-onna

Japanese snow spirit; the spirit of a woman who perished out in the snow during the winter months, said to return during the winter months to lure lost souls to their deaths.


telecommunicator

(science fiction) A telecommunication device of various kinds.


microkinesis

It features a fully coded Talent system including 'pathing, 'porting, merging, clairvoyance, clairaudience and microkinesis.

1998 October 10, Greg Kempe, “AD: [tinymush] TowerMUSH - AM's Tower and the Hive books”, in rec.games.mud.announce (Usenet):

In our telekinesis case, the psi. might pick up microkinesis or macrokinesis at a certain level.

2000 April 5, Kelly Ross Pederson, “Re: 3E psionics ideas?”, in rec.games.frp.dnd (Usenet):

[…], to arrange for him to be treated by a Guild medic who could repair the heart with microkinesis.

2014, Alexandra Hughes, Marked, Penguin Group, page 55:

(fiction) The ability to move objects and effect matter on a microscopic, molecular, atomic and subatomic level with the power of one's mind.


thermokinesis

en-noun

thermokinesis (countable and uncountable, plural thermokineses)

(fiction) The ability to manipulate the motion of molecules, slowing them down or speeding them up, thus changing temperature in the immediate vicinity with the power of one's mind. This is a wide spectrum ability than simply pyrokinesis or cryokinesis.


Star Trekkish

en-adj

Star Trekkish (comparative more Star Trekkish, superlative most Star Trekkish)

more Star Trekkish (comparative)
most Star Trekkish (superlative)

When her predatory lovers die — first with crystal shards embedded in their skulls and then just vanishing in a sparkly Star Trekkish mass of bubbles — she believes that she is killing them with her deadly vagina.

1984, Florida Atlantic University, Science Fiction Research Association, Fantasy review, Volume 7, Issues 64-74, page 43

AT&T Microelectronics and Go Corp. envision future "personal communicators" that will include devices ranging from tablet computers with fax transceivers and wireless data transmission to a "Star Trekkish" communicator with a writing pad.

1992, InfoWorld, volume 14, number 29, page 31:

Biosphere 2, that very real quasi-scientific experiment in the Arizona desert in which seven men and women donned Star Trekkish jumpsuits and sealed themselves inside a domed ecocosm, is an eerie parallel to the Alternative 3 plot.

2004, Jonathan Vankin, Joh Whalen, The 80 Greatest Conspiracies Of All Time, page 137:

"Not to get too Star Trekkish," Miriam said. "But I'm also an empath".

2008, John Ringo, Travis S. Taylor, Claws That Catch, page 271:

Originally developed in the 1950s, the square tomato, officially known by the Star Trekkish designation “Cultivar VF-145,” was designed solely with machines in mind.

2011, Rebecca Rupp, How Carrots Won the Trojan War, page 329:

Especially of style or technology: like that of the fictional world of the Star Trek media franchise.


reptoid

(ufology) A member of an extraterrestrial sapient species said to resemble a reptile, often ascribed shapeshifting capabilities and implicated in many conspiracy theories.


little person

en-noun

little person (plural little people or little persons)

little people (plural)
little persons (plural)

Here, the amount of personal space that is acknowledged for a little person is similar to that of a child.

2012, Vera Chouinard, Edward Hall, Robert Wilton, Towards Enabling Geographies, page 188:

(euphemistic) A person with dwarfism, or short stature resulting from a medical condition.

petite personne

euphemistic term for a person with dwarfism — see also dwarf

The little people then disappeared, and went each about their work or their pleasure.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 298:

His nurse had told him all about changelings, and how the little people would always try to steal a beautiful human child out of its cradle and put in its stead one of their own ailing, puking brats[…]

1961, Muriel Saint Clare Byrne, Elizabethan Life in Town and Country, page 285:

(folklore, fantasy) A small magical humanoid creature, such as an elf, leprechaun, or fairy.


godsdamn

"Thet!" he half-shouted, his voice deeper than one would expect coming from his frame. "Godsdamn it! You know the bloodmages are supposed to be notified [...]"

1994, Ed Stark, The fifth horseman, →ISBN, page 7:

“Godsdamn, Airell.” He pushed himself from the bench and began pacing.

2006, Cheyenne McCray, Seduced by Magic, →ISBN, page 55:

(vulgar, nonstandard, slang, fiction, fantasy) An expression of anger, surprise, or frustration.


godsdamn

Every godsdamn crevice and crack and water tank in the city would be a fucking encampment.

2004, China Mieville, The Scar, →ISBN, page 164:

(vulgar, nonstandard, slang, fiction, fantasy) Damned by gods; used as an intensifier.


Star Trekky

en-adj

Star Trekky (comparative more Star Trekky, superlative most Star Trekky)

more Star Trekky (comparative)
most Star Trekky (superlative)

Tom's little black box enables you to speak to a computer in a voice that it recognizes and obeys. It's all very "Star Trekky" and terribly exciting to see in action.

1982, Robert Daniel Fierro, The New American Entrepreneur: How to Get Off the Fast Track into a Business of Your Own, Morrow, published 1982, →ISBN, page 31:

Karla began talking all Star Trekky again—the best thing about her. She said, "I don't believe human beings store memory in our brains exclusively—there simply aren't enough storage slots or interconnective possibilities. And so if not in the brain, then where? […]

1995, Douglas Coupland, Microserfs, Harper Perennial, published 2008, →ISBN, page 66:

"Mobile phones, computers — a whole lot of Star Trekky kind of technology" is how Jeanine, my new supervisor, explained it.

2005, Linda Armstrong Kelly, Joni Rodgers, No Mountain High Enough: Raising Lance, Raising Me, Thorndike Press, published 2005, →ISBN, page 264:

(informal) Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the science fiction franchise Star Trek.

stel-vojaĝa

Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Star Trek.


Star Warsy

Star Warsy (comparative more Star Warsy, superlative most Star Warsy)

more Star Warsy (comparative)
most Star Warsy (superlative)

There's undoubtedly a grain of truth in that view — like most snippets of technojargon, the word "modem" may sound needlessly Star Warsy.

1983, Ms. Magazine, Volume 12, Issues 1-6, unknown page

He came back from death, not as a spooky, Star Warsy, flickering, ghostly image but in real flesh and blood.

2007, Peter Downey, Ben Shaw, Everything You Want to Know about Jesus: Well ... Maybe Not Everything but Enough to Get You Started, Zondervan, published 2007, →ISBN, page 27:

“We're back to the battle again? The war between light and dark? Kind of Star Wars'''y, don't you think?"

2010, Lisa Gardner, Live to Tell, Bantam Books, published 2010, →ISBN, page 151:

(informal) Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the science fiction franchise Star Wars.

stel-milita

Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Star Wars.


robochef

These robochefs in the better apartment buildings really knew how to broil a sirloin.

1968, William R. Burkett, Sleeping Planet, page 163:

(science fiction) A machine that prepares and dispenses meals.


pegasister

"Bronies" and "pegasisters," as some fans are called, point to the quality of animation and humor as what makes the series enjoyable.

2011, Christina Belisle, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic review, Reporter, 30 September 2011, page 9

The group included four "Pegasisters," as the small minority of female bronies sometimes call themselves in this male-dominated world.

2011 November 5, Vauhni Vara, Ann Zimmerman, “Hey, Bro, That's My Little Pony! Guys' Interest Mounts in Girly TV Show”, in The Wall Street Journal:

“I’d say 80 percent of my friends are into it,” says the “pegasister,” slang for a female fan. “My dorm loves it. We get together to watch the shows, and we eat and laugh.”

2012 January 11, Reed Tucker, “Horsing around!”, in New York Post:

(slang) A female fan of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, typically an adult.


Jörmungandr

/ˈjɔɹmunˌɡɑndɹ̩/

The dragon Jörmungandr, for instance, was said to encircle the entire world of Midgard (where people live). To complete the circle, he bit his own tail.

2006, Stephen Krensky, Dragons, page 28:

The ultimate symbol of evil, the Midgard Serpent or Jörmungandr, was the offspring of the trickster Loki and the sorceress Angur-boda, who also gave birth to Hel (the queen of the dead) and the Fenris Wolf (see page 239).

2006, Ruth Binney, Nature's Ways: Lore, Legend, Fact and Fiction, page 234:

Thus the Aegypto-Greek Ourobouros or Norse Jörmungandr (Midgard serpent) surrounds the cosmos, biting its own tail in a symbol of perpetuity and infinity, never ending, always regenerating.

2010, Valerie Estelle Frankel, From Girl to Goddess: The Heroine's Journey through Myth and Legend, page 70:

(Norse mythology) The World Serpent or Midgard Serpent, an offspring of Loki, which is thrown into the ocean by Odin but grows to encircle the world, and is finally slain during Ragnarok by Thor, who then succumbs to its poisonous breath.


Crowley

(fantasy fiction) The name of a demon, found in several different works of fiction by several different authors. Named in reference to Aleister Crowley, a famous 19th-century occultist.


Whoniverse

While 'retconning' the scripts, I came up with a number of theories that throw new light on the Doctor, his past, and various other elements of the Whoniverse.

2003, Jean-Marc Lofficier, Randy Lofficier, The Nth Doctor, →ISBN, page 5:

The Blinovitch limitation effect, however, appears to be a law of physics in the Whoniverse.

2006, Paul Parsons, The science of Doctor Who, →ISBN, page 43:

(fandom slang) The universe in which the television series Doctor Who, Torchwood, and The Sarah Jane Adventures, as well as related books, comics and other stories, are set.

Special mention must also go to all the wonderful people I've met since becoming part of the ‘Whoniverse’: Joe Lidster, Stuart Manning, Scott Handcock, Tom Spilsbury, Gareth Roberts, Darren Scott, Kieron Grant, Neil Corry, […]

2010, Oli Smith, Doctor Who: Nuclear Time, →ISBN, page 245:

(possibly dated) The totality of all things connected to the series Doctor Who, including the fictional universe which is its setting, the real-world sets in which it is filmed, its actors and fandom, etc.


Malebolge

Unadapted borrowing from Italian Malebolge (literally “Evil Ditches”). See bolgia.

unadapted borrowing

The eighth circle of Hell in the Divine Comedy.


astroship

The astroships — as we have named the future space vehicles — will be much more comfortable than the Apollo cabins.

1969, Illustrated weekly of Pakistan, page 75:

But we'd need to coordinate our efforts with another astroship.

1999, Joseph Neil Schulman, Brad Linaweaver, Profile in Silver: And Other Screenwritings, page 472:

If these are astroships from someplace besides our specific, physical universe, maybe they come from a place where our laws of physics do not apply, where there is no such thing as velocity/momentum.

2007, Kelly D. Bell, Visitors: A New Look at UFOs:

(science fiction) A spaceship; a starship.


Sol I

From its position as the first planet out from the Sun (Sol).

(poetic, science fiction) The planet Mercury.


Sol II

From its position as the second planet out from the Sun (Sol).

(poetic, science fiction) An alternate name for the planet Venus.


Sol IV

From its position as the fourth planet out from the Sun (Sol).

(poetic, science fiction) The planet Mars.


Sol V

From its position as the fifth planet out from the Sun (Sol).

(poetic, science fiction) An alternate name for the planet Jupiter.


intraterrestrial

(ufology) any of a race of sapient beings who live inside the Earth and operate UFOs


biopath

One biopath revealed masked tuberculosis with 14 of 46 patients, while another biopath only revealed this problem in 1 of 12.

1996, Sarah Cant, Ursula Sharma, Complementary and Alternative Medicines: Knowledge in Practice, page 123:

Biopaths like this one were low-rated telepaths whose powers lay in speaking to bodies rather than minds.

2017, K. Hippolite, The Rocket Girl's Tale, unnumbered page:

However, all telepathic biopaths were open to the committee members, who closed their eyes to listen to the sing-song voice of their first alien on planet Orthus.

2019, Darryl Gopaul, Encyclopedia Library, unnumbered page:

(parapsychology, science fiction) A person with the telepathic ability to manipulate the physiology (e.g. heart rate, breathing or brainwaves) and voluntary motor functions of other people or organisms.


K/S

Initialism from the names of James T. Kirk and Spock, separated by a slash (/).

(fandom slang, often attributively) Fan fiction where the characters James T. Kirk and Spock from the science fiction media franchise Star Trek are shown in a homosexual relationship.


swamp gas

* (hydrogen sulfide): So called because it is often emitted from wetlands such as swamps as a result of anaerobic bacteria, and is responsible for their foul “rotten egg” odor.
* (ufology): An explanation given by then-skeptic J. Allen Hynek for an alleged UFO sighting in Michigan near Lake Huron in 1966.

(ufology, sarcastic) A skeptical explanation that is provided in order to debunk a UFO sighting that a believer regards as ludicrous, illogical or disingenuous.


Vegan

Tommy looked deflated. He stepped back slightly, shaking his head. "Never saw such a resemblance. Are you a Vegan?" "No," Bart lied flatly. "Aldebaran. David Briscoe."

1963, Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Colors of Space:

(science fiction) Someone from the vicinity of the star Vega.


Vegan

[…] James G. Scrugham (later to become governor of the state, and a congressman) and Vegans Roy W. Martin , James Cashman and E. W. Griffith.

1969, Nevada Highways and Parks, volumes 29-30, page 41:

Short for Las Vegan (“someone from Las Vegas”).


xorn

First appeared in the original Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual (1977).

Various monsters can tunnel through rock - either humanoid monsters with picks or rock eaters like rock moles and umber hulks; and some monsters like xorns and ghosts can pass through it without digging.

2002, David Damerell, “Where are they come from?^([sic]) ;)”, in rec.games.roguelike.development (Usenet):

Teleporting from an open room where there were a dozen black orcs firing bows at me and more pouring in through both doors a few nights ago didn't work the first two times, then when it did work it landed me, low on mana and hitpoints, in a room full of gnome mages who instantly summoned four umber hulks and a xorn!

2007, bear, “Makes Lovely Julienne Ogres....”, in rec.games.roguelike.angband (Usenet):

That afternoon, I summoned a Xorn—an earth elemental noted for its speed—and asked it to scout the caves of the Dragon's lair for me.

2010, Roger Bourke White, Rostov Rising: The Tales of Baron Rostov, page 229:

(fantasy) A fictional monster that devours earthen and silicate materials and can move freely through earth.

Monster Manual
Xorn (Dungeons & Dragons)


bed trick

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bed trick.wav

A plot device in traditional literature and theatre where a character begins sexual activity with someone else, then steals away after the lights are off, allowing another character to continue instead.


moonbase

Matahka entered the intersection of the moonbase's basic "T" design. With the gym behind him, he glanced to his right down the first hallway that led to the main entrance. The old dorm pods were now used as offices.

2010, Brian Willshire, Moonbase Eden, page 14:

(originally science fiction) A base or outpost located on a moon.


astroengineering

(science fiction) The construction of megastructures in space by technologically advanced beings.


ringworld

From ring + world, introduced by Larry Niven in the novel Ringworld (1970).

(science fiction) An artificial megastructure in space, consisting of a rotating ring encircling a star and having an inhabitable inner surface with gravity produced through centripetal force.


Betelgeusian

(astronomy, science fiction) Relating to the star Betelgeuse or to inhabitants of the Betelgeuse system.


Betelgeusian

(science fiction) An inhabitant of the Betelgeuse system.


Betelgeusian

(science fiction) The language spoken by Betelgeusians.


zeerust

Coined by English science fiction writer and humorist Douglas Adams and British television producer and writer John Lloyd in The Meaning of Liff (1983), from Zeerust, the name of a town in South Africa. By folk etymology, connected semantics to rust.

coin

It also features a nice bit of Zeerust in the form of a carefully reproduced Hollerith card.

2009 March 23, James Nicholl, “Since there seems to be a derth of on topic material just now”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet), message-ID <gq8jkj$6u7$1@reader1.panix.com>:

If in a mere 60 years we've learned enough that the predictions of the Futurists then have become "zeerust" today, how long before the predictions on this very blog become subject of ridicule and sympathy directed at our naivete?

2010 January 21, Rick, quoting Jean Remy, “The Future of the Future”, in Rocketpunk Manifesto, retrieved 2013-05-31:

Sci-fi and futuristic- lots of potential here it seems to me, though not as many real world example rides as I expected. I wonder if it's a cost issue or a fear of getting zeerust setting in as the ride ages.

2012 June 13, Fuu, “Concept Brainstorming (aka rambling) part one”, in Project Dark Ride, retrieved 2013-05-31:

Datedness of something originally intended to seem futuristic.


unnie

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-unnie.wav

Borrowed from Korean 언니 (eonni, “older sister of a woman”).

bor+

(manhwa, women's speech) An affectionate term of address for an older sister or somewhat older woman.


wuxia

From Mandarin 武俠／武侠 (wǔxiá, “martial hero”).

A genre of East Asian fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists, typically set in Ancient China.


firedragon

From Middle English fyre dragon; equivalent to fire + dragon, modelled after firedrake.

Adam continued to moan in hypnotic agony. Joshua needed to make a move. Boldly, Joshua strode toward the firedragon.


starbase

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-starbase.wav

(science fiction) A base (for trading, military operations, etc.) located in space, among the stars.


hurt/comfort

Hurt/comfort stories often contain enough gore to send shivers down the back of activists concerned with the conflation of sex and violence.

1993, Cynthia Jenkins, "Menage a Deux", SBF 3, November 1993 (quoted in Henry Jenkins, Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture, New York University Press (2006), page 84)

She proposes that writing slash — specifically the hurt/comfort genre, which involves assault, abuse and recovery — provides a therapeutic outlet for genuine, deep feelings of emotional pain.

2002, Will Brooker, Using the Force: Creativity, Community and Star Wars Fans, Continuum (2002), page 137

While genres for these stories range from drama to mystery, many stories are classified by their authors as romances or as “hurt/comfort” stories.

2012, Anissa M. Graham & Jennifer C. Garlen, "Sex and the Single Sleuth", Sherlock Holmes for the 21st Century: Essays on New Adaptations (ed. Lynnette Porter), McFarland & Company (2012), page 30

(fandom slang) A genre of fan fiction in which a character receives comfort from another after or while suffering injury, illness, or a traumatic experience.


genfic

Believe it or not there is as much genfic as there is slashfic.

2000 February 15, LHGraphics [username], “Re: Tripping Billies”, in alt.tv.sentinel (Usenet):

Fee Folay writes, "I do read a lot of genfic, but I find the slash is more likely to explore a deeper, more intense relationship between the male protagonists, and that beguiles me."

2002, Will Brooker, Using the Force: Creativity, Community and Star Wars Fans, Continuum, →ISBN, page 136:

Genfic and hetfic typically extend the source material along lines consistent with the producers' intentions, albeit sometimes more explicitly than the broadcast market would allow.

2008, Steve Abrams, Smaragd Grün, “Mundanes at the Gate … and Perverts Within: Managing Internal and External Threats to Community Online”, in Tyrone L. Adams, Stephen A. Smith, editors, Electronic Tribes: The Virtual Worlds of Geeks, Gamers, Shamans, and Scammers, University of Texas Press, →ISBN, page 210:

(fandom slang) Fan fiction that does not focus specifically on romance or sex.


hetfic

en-noun

hetfic (countable and uncountable, plural hetfics)

The slashers don't object to the fact that your friend (Let's call her "Mamin Mavis") writes hetfic. They object to the fact that she bitches and moans about slash on a list that's at least 50% slash-fic.

2000 October 13, trekkigrrl [username], “Re: Why some K/Sers enjoy slash”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

I -do- also read hetfic when there's a straight couple I like.

2002 May 26, Kirei, “Re: Fanattempts”, in alt.books.pratchett (Usenet):

(uncountable, fandom slang) Such fan fiction collectively.


original character

original character (plural original characters)

I currently have a document of My Little Pony story ideas that is, at the time of this writing, over 250 pages in length. It consists of over 400 premises for stories categorized with more than thirty-five different color-coded tags, a timelime of events spanning over 400,000 years and fourteen pages, over 49,000 words of headcanon, and forty-one original characters.

2013, Peter Berg, "Hobbyhorsing", in Anne Jamison, Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World, BenBella Books (2013), unnumbered pages

The genre of the Mary Sue similarly deals with subjectivity: in this often-derided genre, an impossibly beautiful original character, an avatar of the author herself, inserts herself into the narrative and saves the day.

2014, Karen Hellekson, “Fan fiction”, in Marie-Laure Ryan, Lori Emerson, Benjamin J. Robertson, editors, The Johns Hopkins Guide to Digital Media, The Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 189:

What must be remembered also is the K/Sers' penchant for "making do": when asked why they do not create original characters who could be women as well as men, they most often respond that they are just "working with what's out there."

2014, Constance Penley, “Future Men”, in Karen Hellekson, Kristina Busse, editors, The Fan Fiction Studies Reader, University of Iowa Press, →ISBN, page 178:

(fandom slang) A fictional character created by an author or artist, usually one from a fanwork that is not present in the official canon.


OFC

I strongly dislike the idea of calling one of my OFCs "Mary Sue". It's too negative a connotation, and one that I try diligently to avoid.

1999 June 21, Alice in Stonyland [username], “Re: The Ultimate Mary Sue--A Recommendation”, in alt.tv.highlander.creative (Usenet):

OTOH, if an OFC or OMC is written to further the story, well, if you can make me believe it, congratulations.

1999 September 28, Sigrid H., “NEW: Wonder Of Wonders/speechification/Laura/Karmen”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

You try explaining that to most fanfic fans these days - the minute they see an OFC you get tarred as a "Mary Sue" and your stuff gets slagged all over the internet.

2002 February 25, Jette Goldie, “Re: JMS and Scriptwriting for TV”, in alt.tv.highlander (Usenet):

(fandom slang) Acronym of original female character.. A female original character.


RPF

The moral stature of the RPF has recently been called into question by a French judicial report accusing Kagame, now president of Rwanda, and other RPF soldiers of having shot down Habyarimana's plane.

2004 April 3, Alison Des Forges, The Guardian:

Bugera had his first contact with the RPF through an affluent friend, whose family had helped fund the rebels since their creation.

2011, Jason K Stearns, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters, Public Affairs, published 2012, page 73:

Rwandan Patriotic Front
w:Rwandan Patriotic Front


RPF

RPF (countable and uncountable, plural RPFs)

Apparently, this all started with some Star Trek stories and RPF or “real person fic” started in a Duran Duran fanzine.

2007, Ruadhan J. McElroy, Simple Man: The Autobiography of Peter West, S. H. S. Publications, →ISBN, page 196:

The first known "RPF" is believed to have been authored by members of the Brontë family, who went on to become famous for writing the novels Jane Eyre (Charlotte) and Wuthering Heights (Emily). Based on a children's role-paying game about the Napoleonic Wars, the series featured the Duke of Wellington; his two sons, Charles and Arthur; and their archenemy, Alexander Percy, partly based on Napoleon.

2008, Miriam Segall, Career Building Through Fan Fiction Writing: New Work Based on Favorite Fiction, The Rosen Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 25:

Much RPF is about celebrities' private relationships, just as most soap opera narratives concern characters' private relationships.

2011, Abigail De Kosnik, “Soaps for Tomorrow: Media Fans Making Online Drama from Celebrity Gossip”, in Sam Ford, Abigail De Kosnik, C. Lee Harrington, editors, The Survival of Soap Opera: Transformations for a New Media Era, University Press of Mississippi, →ISBN, page 245:

real person fiction
real person fiction#English

(fandom slang) Initialism of real person fiction.


real person fiction

A type of fan fiction featuring celebrities and other real people, particularly actors, musicians, and athletes.