Watchmenverse

I don't have the issues here with me, but I remember reading it at the time and saying "yup,he saved the world just about a month before the big Wall o' Energy (tm) comes plowin' through."
Okay, you can say Crisis never affected the Watchmenverse, but I prefer it this way. Adds to the tragic futility of it all...

1994 April 22, kristoff, “Re: Ozymandias- Got away with it?”, in rec.arts.comics.misc (Usenet), message-ID <2p8ib5$cvk@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>:

Hmmm ... 3 more universes + the Watchmenverse (because miracles can happen) we can expect to be folded in after the NEXT Final Crisis in 20 years! :-)

2007 June 7, CleV, “Re: The 52 Earths”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <4ing63145rjbakol2atrjnv9lrcq1hf5un@4ax.com>:

Nixon won in 1960 in the Watchmenverse, no?

2008 April 9, Michael Alan Chary, “Re: When Benderism Goes Bad”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet), message-ID <ftj1tg$dm7$1@reader2.panix.com>:

(fandom slang) The fictional universe of Watchmen, a DC Comics miniseries published in 1986, which also includes other related comics and media.


hey pass

(obsolete) A conjurer's exclamation on performing a magic trick; hey presto.


Smallvilleverse

From Smallville + -verse, after the TV show Smallville, named after a fictional rural American town of the same name, from Superman comics.

Now that doesn't mean that Smallville or the US in the Smallvilleverse hasn't banned human cloning, it is a TV show after all. Regardless, and something I should've mentioned in my original response, Clark and Lana likely told the sheriff about the little girls in the "incubators."

2003 May 8, Jedi Tyro, “Re: Why a police matter? (spoils 5/6/03)”, in alt.tv.smallville (Usenet), message-ID <1ayoo3ccaxb3r$.148xdxfv9ugcx.dlg@40tude.net>:

I'm also assuming that, given the age her mother died at and that she wasn't in the photos, that Lucy Lane, Lois' little sister, doesn't exist in the Smallvilleverse.

2004 October 8, ANIM8Rfsk, “Re: Sam Lane (Lois Lane's father)”, in rec.arts.tv (Usenet), message-ID <20041002185844.08240.00001474@mb-m18.aol.com>:

In the Smallvilleverse, Kryptonite also gives humans superpowers, so I would imagine it will as closely controlled as U 235 is, as soon as someone reveals to the public what meteor rocks do.

2006 August 27, James Nicoll, “Re: hero right on the boundary of the possible”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet), message-ID <ecssc3$bkm$1@reader2.panix.com>:

(fandom slang) The fictional universe of the TV show Smallville.

Smallville
Smallville (TV series)
Smallville (comics)
Smallville (place)
Superman


Ultimateverse

From ultimate + -verse, after Ultimate Marvel, an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Since Ultimate Power now takes place before Ultimates 3, instead of after it, I guess the secret character switch between Squadron Supreme and Ultimateverse is not happening now (since there are now a LOT of stories taking place in the Ultimateverse after the switch was supposed to have happen).

2007 July 15, Wayne S Garmil, “Squadron Supreme and Ultimate Power question”, in rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe (Usenet), message-ID <f7bq57$9b1$1@pcls6.std.com>:

There's nothing to stop any of the comic companies producing realistic comic. Even the big two have gioven^([sic]) it a go. Ultimateverse nods in the general direction but doesn't really do anything more. Supreme Power was better but has since become more superheroey and is about to join the Ultimateverse officially.

2006 April 6, Fallen, “Re: Chucking Conventions (was Re: So Has The Hulk Finally Killed Someone?)”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <5HbZf.1556$QP1.794@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net>:

My only minor complaint is I'm not terribly fond of Ultimate Pyro. I have a bit of a conservative streak in me - I'm fine with radical reinterpretations of 616 characters in the Ultimateverse, but when the original character is dead (or depowered or otherwise unrecognizeable from their original state), my feelings change.

2007 March 28, Peter Dimitriadis, “Unreachable Star Reviews March 28th, 2007 (SPOILERS)”, in rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks (Usenet), message-ID <1175113872.697206.68560@p15g2000hsd.googlegroups.com>:

Totleben is handling the art on an upcoming issue of Marvel's "Ultimate Marvel Team-Up" book written by Brian Bendis and featuring the continuity-streamlined Ultimate Spider-Man teaming up with other characters from Marvel's Ultimateverse ...

2001 February 1, Beau Yarbrough, “The Comic Wire for February 1, 2001”, in alt.comics.batman (Usenet), message-ID <95b636$2u0$1@nnrp1.deja.com>:

(fandom slang) The fictional universe of Ultimate Marvel.


hircocervus

From Latin hircus (“goat”) + cervus (“stag”).

A legendary creature described as being a stag and goat hybrid, the hircocervus (“he-goat stag”) is said to have appeared in medieval bestiaries but there are no specific legends about them.

2016, Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, page 158:

(mythology) A mythical creature, half goat, half stag.


Glorithverse

According to the Bierbaum's sourcebook (I don't remember if this particular nugget was presented clearly in the comic itself...), the Glorithverse actually came in two pieces. The first iteration of the Glorithverse resulted from the events of v4 #5, and did not include the pocket universe, Superboy, et al. in any way, shape, or form. However, about ten issues later things changed again, […]

2003 July 25, Sean Daugherty, “Re: Return of Superboy to Legion”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.lsh (Usenet), message-ID <e8789e16.0307242029.48bf3415@posting.google.com>:

(fandom slang) A fictional alternate universe created by DC Comics character Glorith, a foe of the Legion of Super-Heroes.


vworp

Imitative of the sound made by the TARDIS in Doctor Who (originally produced by sound technician Brian Hodgson by electronically modifying a recording of a key scraping along a piano string).

With a vworp of displaced air, a Double of Bob appeared. Every detail was perfect save the eyes for some reason unknown. Instead of their clear blue, they were the deep green usually associated with impending violence. Nobody was looking so nobody noticed however.

2005 March 31, Clayton, “Re: [PW!] To the Tourney”, in alt.games.nintendo.pokemon (Usenet):

A cyclic wheezing, groaning noise began as Vin approach the back wall. The vworp vworp noise was synchronized with a flashing blue light on top, as the gigantic three-dimensional holographic wall displayed a London 1950 police call box. Vin snatched the door open, stepping inside.

2010 February 18, "danw" ("DAWootan"), {ASSM} OTEC_204_Years, alt.sex.stories.moderated

A voice cackled all evil-like and then lightning struck the tower and with a vworp it disappeared! Gosh!

2014 February 23, Drew Perron, MISC: Spies With Badges: "Junior Spies The First Movie", rec.arts.comics.creative, Usenet

No sooner had the spell been cast than it was broken by a sound from outside the castle; the loud, rough, grinding, metallic grunting sound—vworp-vworp-vworp!—of some machine trying to come to life or die quickly.

2019, Lucy A. Snyder, While the Black Stars Burn

(onomatopoeia) Representing the sound made by teleporting or dematerialising/rematerialising.


Vertigoverse

From vertigo + -verse, after Vertigo, a DC Comics imprint created in 1993.

Mordru is just being reintroduced in the LSH reboot. Universo and Time Trapper have not been reintorduced^([sic]) yet so they're unlikely. Phantom Stranger and Destiny maybe be trapped in the Vertigoverse which may make them unavailable. Dr. Fate isn't around any more. Brainwave and Ultra-Humanite are JSA villains so DC will deny they ever existed. Shazam will probably wind up being an Ally if he's used. Same with the Chief.

1997 January 20, Christopher L. Tumber, “Re: [OverPower] Which skill will now Dominate Tournaments?”, in rec.games.trading-cards.misc (Usenet), message-ID <5c04oc$soh@freenet-news.carleton.ca>:

(fandom slang) The fictional universe of Vertigo, the DC Comics imprint.


From 52 + -verse, after 52, a DC Comics limited series released in 2006. The "52" refers to fifty-two fictional parallel universes in the multiverse.

A second question, once again, haven't read the new stuff, but I saw a reference somewhere to The Authority moving to a "Low Energy Earth" with no heroes... could this be part of the 52verse... a possible Earth-Prime?

2007 July 16, Duggy, “52verse/Wildstorm”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <1184642670.175317.11580@i13g2000prf.googlegroups.com>:

(fandom slang) The fictional universe of DC Comics after the conclusion of Infinite Crisis, as shown in the 52 comic book series.


Disneyverse

(fandom slang) The fictional universe of Disney films, TV series, comics, video games, etc.


Stargateverse

From star + gate + -verse, after Stargate.

(fandom slang) The fictional universe of Stargate films, TV series, video games, etc.


Bat-embargo

From Bat- + embargo, reflecting a morphologic pattern established earlier by such terms as Bat-phone and Bat-signal.

Since certain characters are currently exclusive to The Batman, and therefore off-limits for JLU (not to mention Teen Titans--man, the Batman family is getting pretty spread out), I was wondering if any of those characters could appear in the Justice League Unlimited comic?

2005 August 4, Richmond, “Does the bat-embargo extend to JLU comics?”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <mCiIe.158498$HI.30430@edtnps84>:

But Robin is currently occupied in Teen Titans and I think this is a side effect of the Bat embargo affecting the DCU shows (No Bat-villains in the JLU any more for example).

2005 October 14, Brian Doyle, “Batman villains Q”, in rec.toys.action-figures.discuss (Usenet), message-ID <434FEA9D.5C6C8C54@nyc.rr.com>:

Of course, the bat-embargo works out here since the Batman villians need to survive for Batman Beyond. ;)

2006 February 9, Astrobiochemist, “Re: JLU Ep 5x12 Alive! SPOILERS AHEAD!”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <1139534265.256960.25620@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>:

Yes it did.I believe the name of that ep was "For The Man Who Has Everything".It had all the main players in it except,Robin.Which was probably due to the Bat-embargo the suits had going on which basically made it impossible for anyone from the Bat-books other than Batman to appear on JLU.

2007 February 13, George Alexander Jr., “Re: when was the last incredible Superman story?”, in rec.arts.comics.dc.universe (Usenet), message-ID <12024-45D1642A-1219@storefull-3335.bay.webtv.net>:

But folks were also irked by the fact that the DCAU's beloved Justice League Unlimited, still in production when The Batman debuted, was forbidden from using most of the Dark Knight's rogue's gallery, since a "Bat-embargo" reserved them for the new series, while Batman Begins made the Scarecrow and Ra's Al Ghul unavailable to either show.

2017, Joseph McCabe, 100 Things Batman Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, Triumph Books, →ISBN, page 375:

(fandom slang) A prohibition against having the same fictional characters appearing in multiple DC Comics animated series in the decade of the 2000s, which caused Batman's allies and enemies save for Batman himself to be unavailable for the animated series Justice League (although Joker, Clayface and Firefly made appearances in this show) and Justice League Unlimited, and Robin to be unavailable for animated series other than Teen Titans.


Man of Steel

A moniker for Superman, the fictional superhero.


wonderbeast

From wonder + beast. Compare Dutch wonderbeest, German Wundertier.

"He is no wonderbeast at all," replied Salmo calmly. "Just an ordinary otter. […]"

Otherwise they were marvellous wonderbeasts – half man, half fish – that had more acrobatic pep than a seal and a big knife to boot.

2011, Gregor Salmon, Navy Divers, page 97:

We drew nearer the wonder-beast so as to assure ourselves she was real.

(fantasy) A magical, mystical, or mythological creature


tankobon

Borrowed from Japanese 単行本(たんこうぼん) (tankōbon).

(manga) A standard Japanese book format most commonly encountered as the individual volumes of a manga series.


grundylow

(UK, folklore, mythology) Alternative form of grindylow


grindylow

Possibly connected to Grendel, the monster from the epic Beowulf.

(UK, folklore, mythology) A folkloric creature, said to inhabit water and to grab children with its long sinewy arms and drown them.


dwarfkind

(fantasy) All dwarfs, considered as a group.


jumbie

From Kongo zumbi (“fetish”). Doublet of zombie.

If one wants to see “jumbies” “duppies” ghosts, all that is necessary is to put in your eye the tears from the eyes of a pie-bald horse. It is no use explaining to a negro that what he has taken to be a “jumbie” or apparition, is a tree or rock or other natural object.

1882, G.H. Hawtayne, “Occasional notes: West Indian Folk-lore”, in Timehri: Being the Journal of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society of British Guiana, volume 1, page 145:

Jethro stomped away up the hill, though the trail was supposed to be haunted by spirits of the dead called jumbies. He didn't care. He didn't believe in jumbies.

1979, Susan Cooper, Jethro and the Jumbie, page 5:

(chiefly Caribbean) A ghost or evil spirit.


love rectangle

But the breakup and awkward love rectangle were a recurring topic in Google's gossip mill, adding even more tension.

2022, Mark Bergen, Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination, Penguin, →ISBN:


shag-boy

From hogboy, from Old Norse haugr (“cairn; mound”) + bui (“dweller; tennant”). Cognate with Scots hogboon and Old Norse haugbúi.

af

Ghosts, bogies, and the supernatural generally have utterly vanished from this commonplace district before schools and newspapers. Even an old lady more than ninety years old said to us, "Fairies and shag-boys! lasses are often skeart at them, but I never saw none, though I have passed many a time after dark a most terrible spot for them on the road at Thorpe."

1882 August 13, “From the Heart of the Wolds”, in The Cornhill Magazine, volume 46, number 2, page 232:


drider

What a cool army! Do you have Driders or spider riders in there as well?

2001 April 12, RT Maitreya, “Dark Elf Giant Spider”, in rec.games.miniatures.warhammer (Usenet):

I did my best to avoid the driders, but there are a lot of rocks to negotiate around that river, and normal running doesn't cut it. I die. Again.

2001 August 29, Bradmeister, “A server with no ANON”, in alt.games.everquest (Usenet):

This would have been enough to kill a typical generically named character, but the Drider had already proven she was anything but typical.

2002 July 23, swlucky, “[OW!] Never trust a youma”, in alt.fan.sailor-moon (Usenet):

2004, Roby Ward, Heroes of Watussin, Llumina Press， page 206.
The drider had however moved close as he beseeched the entity behind the door, so found himself needing to bend his black elvish upper torso back towards the ceiling in order to avoid being slammed by the sudden rush of the massive slab.

I was in a dungeon, alone, nude.
Suddenly and without warning, a huge gay drider came from behind and shoved his massive drider cock up my anus!!!
[…]
Now my willy is sore and my asshole hurts badly and I have the foul taste of drider cum in my mouth and I lost 90% of my hitpoints!
So NEVER walk around in a dungeon nude, because gay driders may rape you!

2004 October 23, Karl-Hugo Weesberg, “A gay drider raped me ! ! ! !”, in can.uucp (Usenet):

2010, Matthew Lehmann, Wulf's Gate, Xlibris, page 26. Bolded "a" is original.
“Shh, No not a drider. Drider. He is one of the cruelest elves I know, and one of the fastest. […]”

“They were killed by Drider venom that was injected into the back of their necks. […]”

2012, Matthew Mackenzie, The History of Valin Sol: The Decay Years, WestBow Press, page 2:

(fantasy) A monstrous hybrid of a drow or other dark elf and a spider, with a humanoid (vertical) upper body and an arachnid opisthosoma forming the (horizontal) lower part.


hopeless romantic

en-noun

hopeless romantic (plural hopeless romantics)

A person who strongly desires a successful romantic relationship, but struggles greatly to find or maintain one in practice.


exogalactic

(science fiction) Synonym of extragalactic (originating from outside the Milky Way galaxy)


cryo-freeze

en-verb

cryo-freeze (third-person singular simple present cryo-freezes, present participle cryo-freezing, simple past cryo-froze, past participle cryo-frozen)

cryo-freezes (present singular third-person)
cryo-freezing (participle present)
cryo-froze (past)
cryo-frozen (participle past)

Cirno: "I'll cryo-freeze you together with some English beef!"

2002, Team Shanghai Alice, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil:

This requires bulky machinery and other equipment that one person is unlikely to be able to maneuver. Furthermore, even if current technology could cryo-freeze an entire body, the process would take many hours. Dr. Stein made inquiries and found out that a specialist in the field of cryogenics had made a breakthrough just a few weeks before the murder that allowed him to safely freeze single organs, but not entire bodies.

2014, James Luce, The Star-Spangled Triangle, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 60:

(transitive, science fiction, fantasy) To freeze something cryogenically.


cryo-freeze

"Both the original injury and the cryo-freeze did him a lot of damage, some of it permanent. He was forced to take a medical discharge, which he — hm! — did not handle well. It's not my place to discuss those details.” “If he was injured badly enough to need cryo-freeze, he was dead!” she said, startled. “Technically, I suppose so. 'Alive' and 'dead' are not such neat categories as they used to be in the Time of Isolation.”

1999, Lois McMaster Bujold, Komarr, Baen Books, →ISBN:

"What are you going to do with her?" he asked. "Nothing, Dr. Sanders. You are." Sanders shook his head. "What do you mean?" - "We've got two new clients, Dr. Sanders, that need to be put into cryo-freeze..."

2011, Russell Davis, Touchless, Wildside Press LLC, →ISBN, page 154:

Oh I hate this, and she did it on purpose, I'm floating in mid grav feeling like I'm in cryo freeze like the old days. “Lasko you were never in cryo freeze, that has not been used since the star stream was discovered.” Good point, and it is kinda good for the back. “Just be careful of the...” Ow, the transition. “Sorry Lasko, but I told you to stay seated.” The tone in her voice tells me she kinda enjoyed that."

2017, J.W. Delorie, Esper Wars, AuthorHouse, →ISBN:

(science fiction) The state of being cryogenically frozen.


Red Shirt

This strong dilemma is also a fun one, and works particularly well against players who like to use the controversial "Red Shirt" tactic of sending down small away teams to attempt dilemmas.

1995, Decipher, Inc, Star Trek Next Generation Customizable Card Game, →ISBN:

This is a question about responsibility -- Did Michael send his partner (AKA Red Shirt) into the fire zone SPECIFICALLY to be killed? He was the one who suggested to Operations that they set up a rescue attempt -- TO FAIL.

1997 October 1, Judy Williams, “Verdict-Red Shirt”, in alt.fan.la-femme.nikita (Usenet):

Red Shirts are characters with only a little more personality than Random Grunts, but they are expendable, and you can expect them to get killed.

2009, David Perry, Rusel DeMaria, David Perry on Game Design: A Brainstorming Toolbox, page 242:

(fiction) Alternative form of redshirt (“expendable minor character”)


wererabbit

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a rabbit.


werefrog

(fiction) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of a frog.


Voldy

From the evil wizard Voldemort in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.

As I walked slowly to my desk, I pictured myself, as I had done several times before, telling old Voldy I was quitting. Whenever I had the temptation to stop reading the immensely boring editorials and random reading material, I was subjecting myself to these days for my upcoming GDs/interviews, I would picture myself telling Voldy I was out of here and then his possible reactions. It was my favourite daydream.

2014, Harkeerat Anand, An Affair to Remember, Sristhi Publishers & Distributors, →ISBN, page 12:

It's Halloran. Or as he is more frequently called by the kids around Rosemary Bluffs, Voldy. Named for a certain villain in a certain story about a world of wizards. Trust me, the guy earned the nickname. I've never met anyone so rude. If you held a contest for meanest person in town, Voldy would win every time. Even most adults don't like him.

2017, Kimberly J. Smith, The Vardo, Lulu Press, Inc, →ISBN:

(often derogatory) A nickname for a person, or sometimes an animal, who resembles the Harry Potter villain Voldemort in meanness, frightfulness, or some other attribute.


Disney parent

(informal) A non-custodial parent who eludes disciplinary responsibilities over their children and pampers them with treats or gifts.


pourquoi story

en-noun

pourquoi story (plural pourquoi stories)

(narratology) A fictional narrative that explains the cause or reason for something the way that it is.


Centauran

Reincarnation makes them feel superior to you superior Centaurans.

1962, Wallace West, The Memory Bank, Airmont Books, page 44:

The peculiar thing about that war is that the Centaurans gave up.

1974, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, volume 46, Mercury Press, page 64:

The Alpha Centaurans are especially interested in the skies above them.

2006, Giles Sparrow, The Solar System: Exploring the Planets and Their Moons from Mercury to Pluto and Beyond, Thunder Bay Press, page 10:

(science fiction) A member of a fictional or hypothetical Centauran species, colony, civilization, etc.


turbolift

(science fiction) An elevator on a spacecraft.


namahage

A demon-like being in Japanese folklore, portrayed by men in ogre masks and traditional straw capes during a New Year's ritual of admonishing badly-behaved children.


offworld

From off- + world, by analogy with offshore.

She invested in an offworld mining company.


offworld

The would-be astronauts had not been offworld yet.

(chiefly science fiction) Away from Earth.


multiworld

Having lived in both countries, she possessed a multiworld perspective.

Consisting of, in influenced by, multiple worlds.


Dakotaverse

(fandom slang) The fictional universe of the city of Dakota, the home of the superheroes Static Shock, Icon, etc., in comics published by Milestone Media/DC Comics.


Fakémon

(fandom slang) A fake Pokémon; for example, any Pokémon invented in fanart.


head-hop

en-verb

head-hop (third-person singular simple present head-hops, present participle head-hopping, simple past and past participle head-hopped)

head-hops (present singular third-person)
head-hopping (participle present)
head-hopped (participle past)
head-hopped (past)

Editors are very sensitive to POV slips; many consider it the mark of an amateur. So be careful to maintain your point of view; don't head-hop from character to character.

2014, Paula Munier, Plot Perfect: How to Build Unforgettable Stories Scene by Scene:

Here we head-hop from Madison to Betsey, as signaled by the text abruptly naming Madison “that bitch.” Both the hop and the term feel harshly out of tune with the preceding action. As a reader, I have barely started getting to know Madison as a character and investing in her as the protagonist; should I now make a similar investment in Betsey? Only time will tell: If we return to Betsey's POV, then yes, I should pay close attention to her.

2016, Cheryl Klein, The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults:

(intransitive, informal) In writing fiction, to switch suddenly from one character's perspective to another's, disrupting the flow of the story.


microgoggles

With a long-suffering sigh, Cale pulled the microgoggles from his eyes and followed her up the ladder onto the roof.

2000, Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, Titan A.E.: A Novel. Cale's story, →ISBN, page 27:

So whether you are out conquering worlds or are just concerned about these tiny pests, make sure you're prepared with a pair of germ-spotting microgoggles.

2001, Invader Zim, "Germs" (season 1, episode 4a)

She reached into her own field kit for microgoggles, took a closer look.

2015, J. D. Robb, Obsession in Death, →ISBN, page 40:

(rare, science fiction) Goggles that help to see minuscule objects.


werealligator

A Mokolé does not change from human to animal along a fixed track of forms. Instead, during adolescence, the young werealligator dreams of the past of the reptile races, and shapes a form for herself from what she [dreams].

1994, Bill Bridges, Werewolf Players Guide, White Wolf Pub:

(fiction, fantasy) A shapeshifter who can assume the form of an alligator.


skycam

(chiefly science fiction) A camera mounted or flying in the sky, taking aerial pictures or video footage.


frumious

en-adj

frumious (comparative more frumious, superlative most frumious)

more frumious (comparative)
most frumious (superlative)

Blend of fuming + furious, coined by Lewis Carroll in the poem Jabberwocky (1871).


ATWT

(television) Initialism of As the World Turns, an American television soap opera aired between 1956 and 2010.


Pohlian

Pohlian (comparative more Pohlian, superlative most Pohlian)

more Pohlian (comparative)
most Pohlian (superlative)

Of or relating to Frederik Pohl (1919–2013), American writer of science fiction.


antiperson

en-noun

antiperson (plural antipersons or antipeople)

antipersons (plural)
antipeople (plural)

There could be whole antiworlds and antipeople made out of antiparticles. However, if you meet your antiself, don't shake hands!

1988, Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, page 75:

If a person shook hands with an antiperson, both would be annihilated in a shower of gamma ray greetings.

2002, Roy A. Gallant, Meteorite Hunter: The Search for Siberian Meteorite Craters, page 45:

A hypothetical person made out of antimatter.


clairgustant

A person who has the psychic ability of clairgustance.


paraterraformation

paraterraformation (countable and uncountable, plural paraterraformations)


seedship

(science fiction) A spaceship designed to convey colonists to another planet etc.


kilolight

(science fiction) a unit of velocity equal to one thousand times the velocity of light

I said slowly: “I must be making a megalight, or more, an hour. At this rate the journey will take about two weeks—” “Yes,” Lipsey said. “We think the Xeelee have a range of hyperdrive capabilities. The standard intragalactic version is limited to a kilolight an hour, ...

2016, Stephen Baxter, Xeelee Sequence, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

(science fiction) a unit of distance equal to one thousand light-years; a kilolight-year


brainworm

She caught my expression, and added quickly, “Oh, but not bad brain worms. Good brain worms. They know most of the languages that are spoken across the worlds, and pretty soon you will too.”

2012, David Barr Kirtley, “The Ontological Factor”, in John Joseph Adams, editor, Other Worlds Than These, unnumbered page:

"Yes. And I'm going to get back to her. Nothing's going to stand in the way of that. Not two thousand years...not some overambitious species that think they're gods...not monsters or brain-worms or secret assassins."

2012, Mark Chadbourn, Jack of Ravens, unnumbered page:

This allows brain worms to animate their dead bodies, creating shambling warriors that fight for their queens.

2021, Jason Fry, Star Wars The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia, page 111:

(science fiction) Any parasitic, worm-like species that inhabits the brain of another organism, typically altering its behaviour or giving it special abilities.


hedonium

Suppose that we agreed to allow almost the entire accessible universe to be converted into hedonium—everything except a small preserve, say the Milky Way, which would be set aside to accommodate our own needs.

2014, Nick Bostrom, Superintelligence, page 219:

It’s because we intuitively or pre-theoretically think that we shouldn’t give all our cookies to the utility monster or kill ourselves to tile the solar system with hedonium that we reject the straightforward extension of utilitarian happiness-maximizing theory to such cases and reach for a different solution.

2015 November 17, Eric Schwitzgebel, Mara Garza, “A Defense of the Rights of Artificial Intelligences”, in Midwest Studies in Philosophy:

Suppose the AI goes on to convert all matter in the accessible universe to hedonium, i.e., to rearrange matter so as to produce the greatest amount of pleasurable experience per unit mass.

2016, Olle Häggström, Here Be Dragons, page 122:

The Machine Intelligence Research Institute's Buck Shlegeris recently recounted a conversation where “someone said that after the Singularity, if there was a magic button that would turn all of humanity into homogenous goop optimized for happiness (aka hedonium), they'd press it.[…]”

2020, Brian Christian, “Uncertainty”, in The Alignment Problem, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, →ISBN:

artificial intelligence
artificial intelligence

(philosophy of artificial intelligence, rare) Matter arranged in a way that produces pleasure or happiness as efficiently as possible, as might be encouraged by philosophical hedonism.


psycho-biddy

Charles Busch has always been able to wear the hell out of a wig, but it's his twisted penchant for bygone Hollywood genres, from beach-party flicks to psycho-biddy thrillers, that brings the house down, show after show.

Atmospheric Southern gothic, and a “psycho-biddy” (old people in peril) classic.

2011, Paul Simpson, Movie Lists: 397 Ways to Pick a DVD, →ISBN, page 148:

Similar methods were later reused to propagate other movies belonging to the psycho-biddy genre.

2014, Justyna Stępień, Redefining Kitsch and Camp in Literature and Culture, →ISBN, page 48:


microplanetoid

I mean, the Fomalhauters weren't having enough problems with the repairs to their exhaust duct—their StarGrazer'd taken a hit from a rogue microplanetoid—then this earthbound yo-yo tries to put a goddam drift netter up their tailpipe.

1998, Dana Stabenow, Killing Grounds, →ISBN, page 104:

The loose group of rocks, sand, random molecules, and microplanetoids known as the Hallelujah node was traveling in company around the Sun at a speed of eleven miles per second.

2009, Robert A. Heinlein, The Rolling Stones, →ISBN:

Around three hundred meters long and a little less than half as wide, the new shape was much smaller than the microplanetoid configuration.

2015, John Steiner, Flipspace:Astraeus Event, Missions 10-12, →ISBN, page 81:

(science fiction) An astronomical body smaller than a planetoid, such as an asteroid or planetesimal.


ahoge

(fandom slang, usually in the context of Japanese-style art) An exaggerated cowlick (lock of hair). It adds cuteness to a character and is usually indicative of character traits like airheadedness.


Columbine

census-designated place
census-designated place

Jefferson County
Jefferson County#English

A census-designated place in Arapahoe County and Jefferson County, Colorado, United States.


orcess

My gaze fell on an orcess. It was the first time I'd seen a woman from the race of the Firstborn. She looked a lot like Miralissa, except that her hair wasn't gathered into a braid, but a long tail. The orcess was armed with two crooked swords

Kalatea was an orc-more precisely an orcish madien. Hmm...Or is it orcess? I don't know what the proper term for her was, but the main gist was evident-she was large and green.

2018, The Phantom Castle: The Way of the Shaman: Book #4 LitRPG series, page 64:

"And this is my vassal Mahk the Orcess," I gestured towards my imposing pet. She simply grunted. Orcs hated social formalities.

2018, The Shadow of the Rogue: The Rogue's Gambit, page 69:


trolless

The villanous trolless devoured them sitting on a rock, and kicking it with her heels.

1864, The Dublin University Magazine, volume 64, page 70:

No doubt the "seesaw action" that so often accompanied news of Andre's discoveries was not unfamiliar to the "trolless," who had come to expect that her accomplishments would not meet with the same sort of awe and tearful joy as her brother's.

1988, Between the Human and the Divine: The Political Thought of Simone Weil, page 17:

“You treat me like I look,” a young trolless had once accused Conrad, on a crowded street at Festival time. Conrad's crime: stepping away from her so as not to loom. And his reply: “Obviously, miss. Our appearance is the first thing we say to the people around us, and yours is a scream of defiance." To her credit, the trolless had giggled at that, and winked an enormous eyelid

I have chosen you as my new queen, a trolless who can walk the world freely by day or by night. From you shall spring a new race, one able to fight under the light of moon or sun, moonslipping or sunslipping at will.

The end result of a brief but fruitful liaison between a lonely shepherd and a sex-mad rock-trolless, Sawn-off Sam was a maniac at the best of times.

Despite Kyleah's fears that Elwyn had married a trolless in disguise, her trollog traits receded and rarely showed themselves again—even when she was hungry.

The Trolless, whose interactions with humans were normally limited to screamed obscenities and mutual attempts at decapitation, found herself gnashing her fangs and reflexively reaching to the hip of her armored skirt.

2010, World of Warcraft and Philosophy: Wrath of the Philosopher King, page 21:

A mountain trolless made a proposal to a knight, Speaking in her forked tongue

2010, Twilight Forever Rising, page 333:

Babu Racthu gestured to his warriors. "Stake him out for the wildthings-kill the troll-bitch!"
"You jump to conclusions!" Pulfifer protested as the warriors dismounted and came toward hi. "The trolless helped me escape her tribe, and is escorting me to the border of their domain! She herself is a rare treasure, a curiosity fit for the mangerie of any collector of obscure life-forms! As you know, females of her species are rarely, if ever, seen by human eyes!"

2012, The Pulsifer Saga: Deluxe 3rd Illustrated Edition, page 99:

Drimblerod shook loose of the Trolless to face Grimbledung, "Or else what?!" He demanded. "Are you insane? Or else this troll..."
"Trolless" corrected the Trolless.
"Trolless" continued Drimblerod, "will pop my head off like a cherry. Why are trying to provoke it?"
"Her" corrected the Trolless testily.
"Her." Agreed Grimbledung, "Definitely a her." He looked her up and down. Hungrily.
The Trolless blushed, "Why thank you my little Gnome."
"Listen, Mistress Troll," began Drimbleroad

2013, Tales From A Second Hand Wand Shoppe, page 62:

The trolless rushed into the darkness. Elpis turned to her. The Pendant shone a scene of desperation adn seduction. The trolless stretched upon an alter, slabs and sides askewed

2014, The Garden of Hope and Despair: A Clash of Myths, page 152:

The little trolless spins on her heels and runs back into the cavern.

2014, Warriors: I Bring the Fire Part V ~ A Story for Fans of Norse Mythology, page 108:

He picks up a picture of him, sitting on the lap of a cute curvaceous trolless. He smiles at the memory. That had been the best. He never meant to play have-carnal-relations-with-as-many-hominids-as-possible bingo with Loki; but he won anyhow.

2015, The Fire Bringers: An I Bring the Fire Short Story:

Perhaps, when he had completed two or three rooms by himself, some wandering trolless would come along to help.

2017, A Man of His Word: The Complete Series, page 702:


underbreed

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Leaf felt degraded by that — hiring on, in effect, as an indentured underbreed — but what choice was there for him?

1973, Terry Carr, Richard A. Lupoff, Robert Silverberg, No Mind of Man: Three Original Novellas of Science Fiction, page 122:

I had an idea who it was but called the command post and demanded the names of the underbreeds who had last piloted the jet

1995, Alan Cockrell, Tail of the Storm: Flying Missions in the First Gulf War, →ISBN, page 49:

Hi is thinking about those strange advertisements they read in the tabloid to titillate themselves, and the present in which he exists seems suddenly like some weird science fiction movie of the future in which the world is organized in a strange manner with certain people as an underbreed in which they are manipulated by economics to sell their bodies to others who live in another sphere where the repression of their carnality is required as an imagined requisite for social order.

2013, Thomas E. Kennedy, Kerrigan in Copenhagen, →ISBN, page 119:

(chiefly science fiction) An inferior or subservient breed of people or sentient beings.


She is a 2.5D actress.

(theater, drama) Of, belonging or relating to 2.5D musicals, a type of modern Japanese musical theater production which adapts stories originally presented in a two-dimensional medium (anime, manga, or video games).


swanship

"That's what I feel," replied Jasper, relieved, then chuckled to see the sleek, bewhiskered head of a seal pop out of the water by the swanship.

1979, Lorna Baxter, The eggchild, Dutton Juvenile, →ISBN:

He might have been drowned, along with fat Basil, that arrogant merchant, when the swanship broke apart. Indeed, he thought, in all of his wanderings since his birth in the Carthaginian hills, he had rarely been far from death.

1983, Dikkon Eberhart, Paradise: A Novel, Stemmer House Pub, page 14

(uncommon, chiefly in fiction) A ship shaped like a swan.


conculture

From con- (“constructed”) + culture; compare conlang, conworld.

The most respected languages in the conlang community often have years of work behind them, and may even be attached to whole "conworlds" or "concultures" that help give them coherence and a model "literature."

2009, Arika Okrent, In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build A Perfect Language, Spiegel & Grau, published 2009, →ISBN, page 287:

An imaginary culture, especially one associated with a conworld or conlang.


underperson

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For I felt sure these underpeople had taken it.

1895, Herbert George Wells, The Time Machine, page 118:

Life is no longer the long, easy ride the true men are accustomed to, and although life is not exactly fraught with peril, the true men learn of vulnerability and danger, things that the underpeople have long lived with.

2001, Karen L. Hellekson, The Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, →ISBN, page 69:

The Administrator sent me here on a crazy errand, killing an unknown underperson. I find out that the person is really a little girl. Then I find out that she is not an underperson, but a frightening old dead woman, still walking around alive.

2012, Gardner Dozois, A Day in the Life, →ISBN:

These underpeople were even less human than the androids, their very appearance making obvious their animal origins.

2015, A. Bertram Chandler, The Inheritors, →ISBN:

(science fiction) A member of a subhuman sentient species.


half-elven

en-adj

half-elven (comparative more half-elven, superlative most half-elven)

more half-elven (comparative)
most half-elven (superlative)

“There is a half-elven Harper,” Laeral said slowly, “currently stationed in a city near the Forest of Tethir. […]”

(fantasy) Of half or partial elf heritage or descent


Nintendium

From Nintendo + -ium (“suffix for naming new elements”).

suffix

[W]hatever they make Nintendo systems out of ("Nintendium," as it's come to be known) seems to be able to withstand anything.

2015 August 3, u/MistaSnowman (username), Hey /r/nintendo, what's your best "Nintendium" story?, r/nintendo (Reddit), archived from the original on 26 May 2020, accessed 26 May 2020

The Joy-Cons need to be comfortable, light, and feel like they’re made of Nintendium (the mysterious alloys Nintendo used in the original NES controller, seemingly related to Gundanium).

2016, Will Greenwald, Nintendo Switch Looks Really Promising, Here’s How They Might Screw It Up, Geek.com

All components feel very sturdy and of solid construction (Nintendium still being used!).

2017, Cory Arnold, Hands-on: Nintendo Switch won't blow you away but will satisfy core gamers, Destructoid:

(humorous) A fictional material credited for the durability of several Nintendo products.


Pikaclone

(fandom slang) A Pokémon that resembles, or is seemingly inspired by, Pikachu.


Jigglypuff

en-noun

Jigglypuff (plural Jigglypuff or Jigglypuffs)

Jigglypuff (plural)
Jigglypuffs (plural)

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

When they pointed out that I'd have to pay a couple of hundred bucks if I ever rejoined, I just laughed at them, pressed my fingertips to my temples, and visualized about seven and a half pounds off my jigglypuff thighs.

2004, Celia Rivenbark, We're Just Like You, Only Prettier: Confessions of a Tarnished Southern Belle, pages 151–152:

They sleep when you on the mic, you're fucking Jigglypuff

2007, Demigodz, “Well, Well, Well”, in The Godz Must Be Crazier:

And when your body type is "Kirby" or "Jigglypuff", finding a style that is meant for your shape is next to impossible.

2015, Barbara Sorrelson, 45 Reasons It Sucks to be Fat: Daily Diet Motivation, page 27:

(sometimes attributive) Something that resembles the Pokémon Jigglypuff, e.g. by being rotund, bright pink, or able to induce sleep.


toddlercon

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

From toddler + -con (“abnormal sexual attraction”).

suf

(anime) Japanese-inspired erotic or suggestive art depicting very young children, of toddler age.


mammophant

However, several generations of “mammophant” breeding would be necessary before it would be possible to sire a genetically “pure” mammoth.

2002, Allen A. Debus, Diane E. Debus, Dinosaur Memories, page 186:

Herds of mammophants pining for the fjords aren’t quite within the realm of what’s possible.

2017 February 22, Mark Carnall, The Guardian:

Church and his team plan to create the mammophant by endowing the egg cell of an Asian elephant with the genes for red blood cells that operate efficiently at low temperature, an enhanced fat layer under the skin, and a luxuriant covering of hair and fur - all from the woolly mammoth genome.

2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 309:

A (hypothetical) cross between a woolly mammoth and an elephant.


gigadeath

They'll have no reason to hit the datasphere now. There will be no gigadeaths.

2008, Ken MacLeod, Fractions: The First Half of The Fall Revolution, page 285:


pulled-to-publish

[…] and, as I will argue in Chapter Five, these differ significantly from the pulled-to-publish (P2P) novels like After and Fifty Shades of Grey.

2015, Katharine E. McCain, "Canon Vs. 'Fanon': Genre Devices In Contemporary Fanfiction", thesis submitted to Georgetown University, page 4

In answer to questions about fan policing of pulled-to-publish fanfiction, she notes: […]

2016 July, Monica Flegel, Jenny Roth, “Writing a New Text: The Role of Cyberculture in Fanfiction Writers’ Transition to 'Legitimate' Publishing”, in Contemporary Women's Writing, volume 10, number 2:

While not all or even most m/m romance novels are pulled-to-publish stories, the close connection between slash fiction and m/m romance allows us to see how each genre might inform each other as readers and authors begin to cross over.

2017, Kacey Whalen, "A Consumption of Gay Men: Navigating the Shifting Boundaries of M/M Romantic Readership", thesis submitted to DePaul University, page 10

(of a work of fiction) Previously published as fan fiction before being commercially released.


extinction level event

en-noun

extinction level event (plural extinction level events)

(chiefly science fiction) Synonym of mass extinction


fancy Dan

(sometimes derogatory) A show-off; a person who is stylish but lacks real skill or substance.


NuWho

(fandom slang) A revival of the Doctor Who universe, launched in 2005, after cancellation of the previous series in 1989.


thrillsville

From thrill + -s- + -ville, evoking a fictional town.

A fictional or generic location that is very exciting.

A state or condition of great excitement.


snallygaster

In American folklore, a dragon-like beast said to inhabit central Maryland and neighbouring regions.


mutantkind

"Dr. Bocklin believes he's discovered what amounts to an on/off switch for human mutation, and current events lead me to believe that his discovery will have the direst consequences for mutantkind."

1997, Eluki Bes Shahar, Smoke and Mirrors, →ISBN:

With the members of their race slowly dying out and no new mutants being born, mutantkind was on the brink of extinction.

2011, Mike Carey, Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, X-Men: Second Coming, Marvel Entertainment, →ISBN:

After all, doesn't Magneto just want to protect mutantkind, and isn't Ra's Al Ghul just trying to save the planet? Lex Luthor is just a frustrated humanist, and if he troubles himself to remember the names of his janitor's kids, he can't be all bad, [...]

2011, Ben Dyer, Supervillains and Philosophy: Sometimes, Evil is its Own Reward, →ISBN:

(chiefly fiction) Mutants, collectively; the race of mutants.


shipgirl

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(Japanese fiction) A female fictional humanoid character featuring design elements of a ship, such as anchors, naval guns or torpedo tubes; usually a namesake moe anthropomorphization of a real life warship.

艦娘 /舰娘

female character with ship characteristics


swan maiden

(mythology) A woman able to shapeshift between human and swan forms.


couch gag

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A visual joke at the end of the opening credits of a Simpsons episode, during which the Simpson family settles down to watch television.


dematerializer

(science fiction) A device that dematerializes things.


deredere

From Japanese でれでれ (“onomatopoeia for being lovestruck”).

bor

(fandom slang) A character who is lovestruck and does not hide their romantic feelings towards their love interest and is very sweet, flirtatious, affectionate, and loving towards them the entire time.


vampirehood

Not that he feels nostalgic for his mortal origins; after all, he was desperately unhappy, at least immediately prior to his vampirehood. Neither is Louis's unhappiness principally because of his lack of vampire colleagues.

2008, Charles Pinches, Jay B. McDaniel, Good News for Animals?: Christian Approaches to Animal Well-Being, →ISBN, page 130:

I realized I'd been so caught up in my new vampirehood that I hadn't noticed Christmas had come and gone.

2006, Jennifer Armintrout, Blood Ties Book One: The Turning, MIRA, →ISBN, page 224:

The state of being a vampire; vampiredom.


dwarfette

Her outstanding feature was her nose, an enormous pyramid-shaped nose which reminded me of clowns, gargoyles, dwarfettes, cartoon gnomes.

2008, Michael Pastore, “The Grapes of Roth”, in The Zorba Anthology of Love Stories, page 266:

Yimt smiled up at him. "I'm happily married, remember? And even if I was unhappily married, dwarfettes take marital vows seriously. Did you know they don't wear a wedding ring? Chafes their finger when swinging an axe, which, as it happens, is the traditional marriage gift a mother gives her daughter."

2009, Chris Evans, The Light of Burning Shadows, page 153:

“I’m so sorry. Your Majesty,” he blubbers. “Please don’t put me in the stocks, I beg of you. I have three little dwarfettes at home and I was only trying to do my job!”

2011, Marianne Mancusi, Night School, page 193:


jumpgate

Einstein-Rosen bridge
Einstein-Rosen bridge

(science fiction) A fictional device able to create an Einstein-Rosen bridge portal (or wormhole), allowing fast travel between two points in space.


runelore

In fact so serious a discrepancy could only arise in the infancy of this little-studied Old-Northern Rune-lore, when the material was so comparatively slender and the few monuments gave scarcely any acknowledged formulas.

1884, George Stephens, The Old-Northern Runic Monuments of Scandinavia and England, London: Williams and Norgate, page 213:

Runelore is dominated by the figure of Ódhinn. It is the path exemplified by him that the runester seeks to travel.

1989, Edred Thorsson, Runelore: A Handbook of Esoteric Runology, York Beach, Me.: S. Weiser, page 175:

(fantasy, paganism) The study of runes, typically for magical or religious purposes.


shaggy God story

en-noun

shaggy God story (plural shaggy God stories)

A pun on shaggy dog story, incorporating God. Coined by writer and critic Brian W. Aldiss in a pseudonymous column in the October 1965 issue of New Worlds.

A typical shaggy God story might feature a pair of astronauts landing on a lush and virgin world; the story ends with their names being revealed as Adam and Eve.

(science fiction) A style of science fiction story that attempts to explain biblical concepts with science fiction tropes.


Bookland

(informal) The notional country associated with a numeric country prefix allocated in the 1980s for European Article Number identifiers of published books, regardless of country of origin.


sleepy sand

(fiction) The sand or dust that the Sandman throws in people's eyes.


Shesha

(Hinduism) One of the primal beings of creation, a many-headed snake who holds all of the planets of the universe on his hoods and constantly sings the glories of Vishnu.


amphiptere

Ultimately from Ancient Greek ἀμφί (amphí, “amphi-”) + πτερόν (pterón, “wing”).

af

<i class="Latn mention" lang="en">amphi-</i>

Azure, an amphiptere or, rising between two mountains argent, are the arms of Camoens, the Portuguese poet.

1969, John Vinycomb, Fictitious and Symbolic Creatures in Art, Library of Alexandria, →ISBN:

(heraldry, fantasy) A type of winged serpent, with two bat-like wings and typically with no other limbs.


Mickey Mouse plant

en-noun

Mickey Mouse plant (plural Mickey Mouse plants)

Any of several plants in the genus Ochna which have large, black fruits that look like the ears on an upside-down Mickey Mouse cap.


bullywug

(gaming) A fictional frog-headed humanoid monster from the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.


Buffyspeak

As one would say in Buffyspeak, soak in the irony for a moment.

2006, Jennifer Ouellette, The Physics of the Buffyverse, unnumbered page:

During "The Writing for Teens and Television" symposium, in an exchange about adolescent language, Whedon readily admits, as he has done in other interviews, that Buffyspeak was his creation and not intended to be mimetic.

2007, Dear Angela: Remember My So-Called Life, page 216:

The linguistic distinctiveness of Buffyspeak is not reproduced in the Italian version, where teenagers' speech style is, at most, characterized by an informality which does not have any particular connotation as 'youth language.'

2008, Diana Bianchi, “Taming teen-language: The adaptation of Buffyspeak into Italian”, in Delia Chiaro, Christine Heiss, Chiara Bucaria, editors, Between Text and Image: Updating Research in Screen Translation, page 187:

(fandom slang) The invented slang used by characters on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.


Poirotesque

en-adj

Poirotesque (comparative more Poirotesque, superlative most Poirotesque)

more Poirotesque (comparative)
most Poirotesque (superlative)

Even more stimulating is the sleuth-like pursuit of clues in Ovid culminating in a Poirotesque gathering of all threads in a final denouement […]

The tabloids played on the drama and gave it a Poirotesque twist, of deep plots being hatched in space to do away with troublesome officers.

2000, Sam Mangat, The Homestead: The Great Space Mutiny, page 254:

While generally restraining himself from the Poirotesque habit of assembling rooms full of suspects to heighten the sense of theatre at the denouement of a case, he would occasionally milk a scene.

2009, Daniel Smith, The Sherlock Holmes Companion: An Elementary Guide, page 27:

Photographs of Murif on the journey show him looking somewhat Hercule Poirotesque, with a neatly trimmed beard and moustache and wearing a homburg hat. The rest of his attire was designed purely for comfort, […]

Reminiscent of Hercule Poirot, a fictional Belgian detective in the works of Agatha Christie, known for his finicky neatness and for assembling suspects at the conclusion of a case to explain what happened and who committed the crime.


mumbly Joe

From “Treehouse of Horror VII”, an episode of The Simpsons. In it, Homer Simpson uses the term to refer to real-life politician and then–US presidential candidate Bob Dole.

"Except, um... there's this election next week, so after that, it might not be him anymore. It might be what's-his-name, uh... Mumbly Joe, uh... I saw him on TV the other... uh... Bob Dole!"

1996 October 27, David S. Cohen, Dan Greaney, Ken Keeler, “Treehouse of Horror VII”, in The Simpsons, season 8, episode 1 (television show), spoken by Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), via Fox:

"For instance, Phoenix’s infamous interview with David Letterman, which first introduced a wide audience to Phoenix’s mumbly Joe would-be rap star character, has now been revealed to be a joke that even Letterman himself was in on."

2010 September 20, Sean O'Neal, “Yes, David Letterman knew that Joaquin Phoenix was not really a crazy rapper”, in AV News, archived from the original on 2019-11-20:

"Maybe it’s because this version of Hex is a real mumbly Joe (even when he’s yelling), but I did think it was hard to follow what he told Sara about his past."

2016 November 18, Dylan Todd, Matt Wilson, “‘LEGENDS OF TOMORROW’ POST-SHOW RECAP: SEASON 2, EPISODE 6: ‘OUTLAW COUNTRY’”, in Comics Alliance:

(slang, humorous) Someone who mumbles and is difficult to understand when speaking.

Bob Dole
Homer Simpson
The Simpsons
Treehouse of Horror VII


xenobotanist

A botanist whose speciality is xenobotany.


toposophy

(science fiction) A fictional science dealing with the theoretical problems and possibilities of attempts to extend and amplify one's mental potential, i.e. via technology, whether by humans, artificial intelligence or extraterrestrials.


unbiseptium

systematic element name
systematic element name

The systematic element name for the (as yet undiscovered) chemical element with atomic number 127 (symbol Ubs).


BWWM

Initialism of black woman, white man: an interracial romance novel genre


otherdimensional

(science fiction) From or in another dimension (another plane or parallel universe).


panthan

Three Sikhs with three mules attempt to take it to them down the causeway scourged by the Chinese fire. First a mule drops, but the tall, gaunt-featured, turbaned panthans stride on. Then a turban goes down; then another turban; and the third ...

1900, Archibald Clavering Gunter, Tangled Flags: A Novel, page 223:

I asked each man his name and his past experience; there were, among the twenty-three, eleven panthans and twelve assassins; and they had fought all over the world. Seven of the panthans were from Helium, ...

1941, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Llana of Gathol and John Carter of Mars:


sweet summer child

en-noun

sweet summer child (plural sweet summer children)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sapaa-sweet summer child.wav

As an idiomatic phrase, apparently from the 1996 fantasy novel A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, although isolated occurrences go back to the 1800s. In the novel, a young boy is called a "sweet summer child" by an old woman, since seasons last for years in the novel's world and he has yet to experience winter. Later popularized by its use in the episode "Lord Snow" (2011) of the television adaptation Game of Thrones.

Don't think people have tried to put Mario games in order? Oh sweet summer child.

2015 February 19, Christopher Castano, “Out Of Control”, in The Georgetown Voice, Georgetown University, page 10:

"Starts?" I hear you cry, "How can it get any weirder than that?". Oh, my sweet summer children, what George wants me to do while he licks my feet clean is take pictures and humiliate him.

2019, Dee Dickens, Duct Tape and Daddy Issues: Phone-Sex Worker Tells All, unnumbered page:

It can't be worse than "X-Men: The Last Stand," can it? Oh, sweet summer child. It can always get worse…especially in Hollywood.

2019 October 24, Jared Rasic, “Film Shorts”, in Source Weekly, page 34:

(idiomatic, often sarcastic) Someone who is naive, or who has never experienced hardship.

A Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones
George R. R. Martin
Lord Snow


transparisteel

Blend of transparent + steel. Apparently coined by Brian Daley in 1979.

His gaze went to Hirken, who stood gloating behind invulnerable transparisteel.

1979, Brian Daley, Han Solo at Stars’ End:

Ignoring the familiar discomfort, he padded barefoot across the thick white carpet toward the heavy curtains that lined the richly appointed bedroom’s wide transparisteel window.

2007, Andy Mangels, Michael A. Martin, Star Trek: Enterprise: The Good That Men Do:

The cockpit was located underneath the body, a down slanted oval of transparisteel.

(uncountable, science fiction) a fictional hard transparent metal used instead of glass in windows


Drac

Out from his coffin, Drac's voice did ring
Seems he was troubled by just one thing
Opened the lid and shook his fist
And said, "Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist?"
It's now the Mash
It's now the Monster Mash.

1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers:

[…] Roger Corman's 1993 attempted Bram Stoker's Dracula rip-off, Dracula Rising (New Horizons), which is to Coppola's vampire epic what Drac's reflection is to the count himself.

2000, Joe Kane, The Phantom of the Movies' Videoscope, →ISBN, page 29:

Still, the Count graciously agrees to […] do a brief roll call of his manifold Dracula tattoos. "That's a Drac, that's a Drac, that's a Drac, that's a demon, and that's for me," he says of the tattoo on his right arm that reads donna. The full-length Dracula on his back, alas, is but one third complete.

2004, Steve Rushin, The Caddie Was a Reindeer and Other Tales of Extreme Recreation, →ISBN:

It was Irish actor, playwright and director Deane (1880-1958) who, upon adapting Stoker’s novel for the stage, envisioned ol’ Drac as a tuxedo-and-cape-wearing high-society maven that was, later, perfected by Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi.

2017 October 29, Eric Feber, “Continue the scares past Halloween with TCC's production of "Dracula"”, in The Virginian-Pilot:

Nickname for the fictional vampire Dracula.


rye wolf

(European folklore) An evil creature of German folklore lurking in the rye-fields.


antiearth

If particles that originally occupy a box which is 20RE long in the earth-antiearth direction and 10Rf wide perpendicular to the neutral sheet leak out of a slit of 4Rf wide with a speed of 400 km/s, it takes 800s before all the particles are lost.

1984, Edward W. Hones, Magnetic Reconnection in Space and Laboratory Plasmas:

The Rx antenna has a single hinge line and during launch the reflector dish is restrained against the antiearth panel by two hold-down points.

1985, STAR, an Abstract Journal - Volume 23, Issues 5-8, page 628:

Overview of LUCE The optical part of LUCE (LUCE-O) is installed on the plane of antiearth direction of OICETS for wide visibility of the geo-stationary satellite, ARTEMIS.

1995, Free-space Laser Communication Technologies:


Dickbats

From Dick (first name of Dick Grayson) + Bats (nickname for Batman).

compound

I refuse to call him Dickbats. I know many of you call him that, but I won’t.

2012 October 13, Andrew Asberry, “Batman: Knightfall Vol. 3 – Knightsend review”, in Batman News:

With the man who beat him out of the picture, Croc settles for a scuffle with Dickbats and Robin.

2016 July 16, Brian Warshaw, “Batman: Arkham: Killer Croc review”, in Batman News:

The dialogue is also classic King, with Gordon saying to Dickbats “you’re not him. You’re that other him.”

2018 July 20, Quinn Morris, “Comic Review: Batman #51”, in Sequential Planet:

(fandom slang) Dick Grayson in the role of Batman.


bridge bunny

(television, science fiction, slang) An attractive female character who serves on the bridge of a spaceship on a science-fiction television show, as eye candy.


satyral

From Old French satirel (“little satyr”); see satyr for more.

Two satyrals supported the arms of the lords Stawell.

1847, Henry Gough, A Glossary of Terms Used in British Heraldry: With a Chronological Table, Illustrative of Its Rise and Progress, page 339:

Behind the satyral, the foliage rustled, and to Jingo's mounting astonishment, a huge brown susquat rushed into the encampment and stood beside the satyral, growling and baring his teeth at the salax king. It was Hooks, and the ghastly[…]

2011 10, Robert Louis Smith, Antiquitas Lost: The Last of the Shamalans, Medlock Publishing LLC, →ISBN:

(heraldry and fantasy) A creature with a human head and the limbs of different animals.


warpfield

(physics) A field associated with the warping of spacetime


BBT

(television) Initialism of Big Bang Theory, a US sitcom first aired in 2007.


xenolinguist

(linguistics, science fiction) One who studies the languages spoken by extraterrestrials.


dinosauroid

Blend of dinosaur + humanoid, coined by American-Canadian paleontologist Dale Russell in 1982.

coin

(science fiction) A hypothetical descendant of troodontid dinosaurs with human-like intelligence and physiology.


mind meld

From the Star Trek franchise, where the term was first used in 1966 for a telepathic ability possessed by the alien race of Vulcans to share thoughts and feelings with another individual.

By this point, Axelrod's mind meld with Obama was so complete that the two men barely needed to speak.

2018, Didier Ndongala Mumbata, Barack Obama, The Political Phenomenon, Paragon Publishing, →ISBN, page 134:

(colloquial) A state of deep compatibility in opinion or plans between two people.


somnetic

en-adjective

somnetic (comparative more somnetic, superlative most somnetic)

more somnetic (comparative)
most somnetic (superlative)

Before I could get him a somnetic inducer, he was out cold on the floor.

2008, Terri Osborne, That Sleep of Death: Slings and Arrows #4:

(science fiction, rare) Pertaining to sleep.


justicar

Spaceport Official: I wanted to be a justicar when I was young. Every asari does I guess.

2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Illium:

Until the justicars got there, she was the only thing standing between the Black Sun gangsters and the relatively innocent residents of Gnawer's Roost.

2011, Sean Williams, Fatal Alliance, →ISBN:

As the justicar strode over to the knights, he saw Deothen shaking his head.

2013, Matt Forbeck, Marked for Death: The Lost Mark, →ISBN:

At the edge of the square fifty justicars marched around a lone towering figure.

2015, Shane Michael Murray, The Orc of Many Answers, page 179:

(fantasy) A representative and enforcer of the king or ruler's justice.


GDW

Nevertheless, it is known that conventional and geographical data must be integrated in one sole database, which corresponds to a GDW (Geographical Data Warehouse).

2008, Stanisław Kozielski, Robert Wrembel, New Trends in Data Warehousing and Data Analysis, →ISBN, page 94:

GDWs are potentially much larger than comparable nongeographic DWs.

2009, Harvey J. Miller, Jiawei Han, Geographic Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, →ISBN, page 14:

A GDW implemented in a relational database inherits several component of conventional data warehouses, such as fact and dimenstion tables, numeric measures and hierarchies of attributes that aggretgate these measures according to distinct granularity levels.

2012, Thiago Luís Lopes Siqueira, Cristina Dutra de Aguiar Ciferri, Vale/ria Cesa/rio Times, Ricardo Rodrigues Ciferri, “Towards Vague Geographic Data Warehouses”, in Geographic Information Science, →ISBN:


nanoreplicator

(science fiction) A nanobot capable of replicating itself or other objects.


wechuge

(mythology) a demonic cannibal spirit known in North America, which is said to commit murder due to craving humans.


Maid Marian

(European folklore) The love interest of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood; originally a shepherdess figure associated with May Day.


riddinite

(science fiction) A particular building material found in the Star Trek universe.


elf-bolt

From the folk belief that they were used by elves.

(fantasy) A magical bolt used by elves in battle.


-vac

(obsolete, marketing, science fiction, computing, mid-20th century) Used in the naming of computer systems and computer models, due to the use of vacuum tubes as the functional elements of computers of the time.


flycraft

The flycraft was coasting toward the enemy killer biomachines when suddenly chance dealt Andora a soft blow in the form of a collision with a piece of space junk that glowed softly as it was repelled by the cloak and shield.

"They don't have to follow on land. There are flycraft and matboats in Peace City that will search us out."

2015, original 1978, Brian W. Aldiss, Enemies of the System:

Against the blackboard surface of the sky, flycrafts whizzed by, leaving crisscrossing trails of radiance that slowly dissipated, soon replaced by others.

2018, Bill Campbell, Francesco Verso, Future Fiction: New Dimensions in International Science Fiction:

(science fiction) A machine, device, or vessel that is capable of flight


chronoportation

en-noun

chronoportation (usually uncountable, plural chronoportations)

1961: Analog Science Fact and Fiction, Volume 67, Issue 4, "The Judas Bug" by Kelly Freas
Too bad that chronoportation is not yet fully developed. If it were, we could go back and perhaps help the old professor figure out a gimmick for storing his universal solvent.

1988:Robert Crossley, introduction to Kindred by Octavia Butler
Perhaps Butler deliberately sacrificed the neat closure that a scientific--or even pseudo-scientific--explanation of telekinesis and chronoportation would have given her novel.

Any of many (mostly hypothetical or fictional) processes of moving matter from one temporal (and possibly spatial) point to another, generally instantaneously.

A technique to send one's mind to another time.


Jediist

en-adj

Jediist (comparative more Jediist, superlative most Jediist)

more Jediist (comparative)
most Jediist (superlative)


orbital defense platform

en-noun

orbital defense platform (plural orbital defense platforms)

(science fiction) A satellite or space station, found in many different works of science fiction, meant to defend a planet against attack from space.


generation ship

generation ship (plural generation ships)

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

(science fiction, space flight) A type of interstellar spaceship, where generations of humans live and die aboard during the journey through interstellar space, as the journey between stars would take generations.


Aunt Jemima

From Aunt Jemima, a stereotypical black mammy used to advertise a popular American pancake mixture brand of the same name. American newspaper managing editor Chris L. Rutt is credited with coming up with the name, inspired by the song “Old Aunt Jemima” (written in 1875) after reportedly seeing a minstrel show featuring it in the fall of 1889. A British image in the Library of Congress, which may have been created as early as 1847, shows a smiling black woman named “Miss Jim-Ima Crow”, with a framed image of “James Crow” on the wall behind her; a character named “Aunt Jemima” appeared on the stage in Washington, D.C., as early as 1864.

(derogatory, ethnic slur) A black woman who is obsequiously servile to white authority, a black female race traitor.

Aunt Jemima#Character of Aunt Jemima
Chris L. Rutt
Old Aunt Jemima


New Jerusalem

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 21:2:

When she sang in the kirk, folk have told me that they had a foretaste of the musick of the New Jerusalem, and when she came in by the village of Caulds old men stottered to their doors to look at her.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

(Judaism) Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centred on the rebuilt Holy Temple, the Third Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the capital of the Messianic Kingdom, the meeting place of the twelve tribes of Israel, during the Messianic era.

An unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California, United States.

An unincorporated community in Ventura County, California, United States.

An unincorporated community in Logan County, Ohio, United States.

A census-designated place in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States.


nanofactory

(science fiction) A molecular assembler that uses nanomachines


werewolfy

en-adj

werewolfy (comparative more werewolfy, superlative most werewolfy)

more werewolfy (comparative)
most werewolfy (superlative)

(informal) Resembling or characteristic of a werewolf.


earthist

He moved forward, determinedly trampling on people's feet. "Make way for an earthist," he called out in a polite but ringing tone.

1967, Maggi Lidchi, Maggi Lidchi-Grassi, Earthman, page 10:

We cannot protect the planet Mars against our enemies from the Earth if we permit these Earthists to flourish in our midst.

1970 -, William Whyte Watt, An American rhetoric, page 282:

(science fiction) An advocate for people who live on earth, as opposed to those on other planets.


Sniktbub

From snikt (sound of Wolverine's claws) + bub (term of address used by Wolverine).

compound

If you're one of the many thousands of comic book fans who skipped over Keanu Reeves' "The Day The Earth Stood Still" and got your Sniktbub trailer fix from a blurry, shaky-cam video on YouTube, I've got some good news for you.

2008 December 16, Jared Rea, “New "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" Trailer”, in The Escapist, archived from the original on 2018-11-22:

(fandom slang) A nickname for Wolverine.


space herpes

Ice Pirates “A ‘Star Wars’ rip-off with S&M scenes, twelfth-rate jokes, and ‘space herpes’”

1985, “1984 entertainment: Movies to see and shun”, in Michiganensian, volume 89, page 60:

Oh! Did we mention that there are families aboard the Enterprise? Yeah, it turns out there are. Because Starfleet did this study and realized that Space Herpes - also known as Kirk's Syndrome - spreads considerably slower if its officers have their spouses and children onboard their ship.

2009 September 17, Wil Wheaton, quotee, “Wil Wheaton's ‘Memories of the Futurecast’ Engages us With Awesome”, in Wired:

“Space herpes got your tongue, boy?” The man came to a stop in front of him. ¶ For some reason the idea of a mutated venereal disease frightened him more than the idea this man could mug him or worse.

2010, P. I. Barrington, Gail Delaney, J. Morgan, Borealis I:

(science fiction, ufology, fandom slang, slang) A generic disease found in space, especially one transmissible by sexual encounters.

shingles

skin condition from reactivated VZV herpesvirus in later life


loong

Borrowed from Mandarin 龍 /龙 (lóng). This spelling is used to differentiate the word from long.

(uncommon, chiefly China) A Chinese dragon.


snowplow parent

en-noun

snowplow parent (plural snowplow parents)

For their insistence on removing all obstacles in their children's paths.

Both helicopter and snowplow parents are raising children to believe they have few faults and will always be successful.

2011, Daniel McLean, Amy Hurd, Kraus' Recreation and Leisure in Modern Society, →ISBN, page 150:

In A Nation of Wimps, Hara Marano observes that even the “Helicopter Parent” has become passé, having been replaced by the “Snowplow Parent.”

2014, Malcolm Gauld, College Success Guaranteed 2.0: 5 Rules for Parents, →ISBN, page 83:

When schools protect children from low marks they are acting as "snowplow" schools, just as parents can be snowplow parents by shoving adversity out of the child's path so they can have a happy life.

2018, Judy L Arnall, Unschooling To University, →ISBN, page 125:

Learn ways to avoid being a competitive or snowplow parent.

2019, Julie Fisher, The Resiliency Puzzle: The Key to Raising Resilient Kids, →ISBN, page 22:

(derogatory) A parent who intervenes to prevent their child from facing obstacles and difficulties.


douzeper

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-douzeper.wav

From Middle English dosse per, dousse-per (“one of Charlemagne’s twelve peers or paladins; one of the twelve great peers of France at later times; a famous knight or noble”) [and other forms], treated as a singular form of dosse pers, dousse pers [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman, Middle French douse pers, douze pers [and other forms], and Old French douze pers, doze pers, duze pers (“Charlemagne’s twelve peers; twelve great peers of France at later times”) [and other forms] (also in the singular forms doze per, duze per, and in Anglo-Norman and Middle French written with a Roman numeral as XII pers), from doze, douze (“twelve”) (modern French douze) + pers (plural of per (“peer”); modern French pair). Doze is derived from Latin duodecim (“twelve”), from duo (“two”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (“two”)) + decem (“ten”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ (“ten”)); per is derived from Latin pār (“equal; like”).

ref

From Marion Florence Lansing (1910) “The Battle of Ronceval”, in Page, Esquire, and Knight: A Book of Chivalry (The Open Road Library of Juvenile Literature), Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Ginn and Company, →OCLC, section I (Of the Council of Charlemagne), page 104.

nb...

(Late Middle English) doseper, (Middle English) dose-per, dosi-per, dosse-per, dous-per, doþþeper, doze-per, dozepiere, dozze-per, duche-per, duge-per, duse-per, dus-per, dusse per, duze-per, duzsi-per, duzze-per, (Early Middle English) duzeper

dosiperes, dosipers, dosiperus, dosseperes, dosseperez, dosze-peres, dosȝe perys, douseperes, dousepers, douspiers, douspyers, dousse pers, doussepyers, doussypers, dousȝepeeris, douȝ piers, dozepeers, dozepers, doȝze pers, doþþeperen, doþþe peres, doþþepers, ducheperes, duchepers, dugeperes, dugepers, duȝperis, duseperis, dusperes, duspers, dusseperes, dussepers, dusse-pers, dussiperes, dusze pers, duzepers, duze pers, duzsipiers, duzze peers, duzze peres

Also kynge Charlemayne kynge of Fraunce / With his dyssypers Rowland and Olyuer / With all the resydue of his alyaunce / That in all armes so noble were / On goddys ennemyes brake many a spere / Causynge them to flee to theyr grete vylony / Hardynes was cause that they had vyctory

[1504?], Stephyn Hawys [i.e., Stephen Hawes], chapter VII, in […] The Example of Vertu, [London]: [Wynkyn de Worde], →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-05-06, signature cc.vi, verso:

Also King Charlemagne, king of France / With his douzepers Roland and Oliver / With all the residue of his alliance / That in all arms so noble were / On God’s enemies broke many a spear / Causing them to flee to their great villany / Hardiness was cause that they had victory

[T]hou art one of the Douze peers already, and fate has forestalled our intended promotion. Yet rise up, sweet Sir Oliver Thatchpate, Knight of the honourable order of the Pumpkin—Rise up, in the name of Nonsense, and begone about thine own concerns, in the devil’s name.

1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 127:

Ferumbras, despising Oliver’s youthful appearance, tries to frighten him[…]; asks him to describe Charles [i.e., Charlemagne] and the douzeperes[…]; and enquires his name[…]. Oliver declaring himself to be a poor knight, Ferumbras derides him, and bids him return and send Roland, or another of the douzeperes[…].

1879, “Sketch of the Story of ‘Sir Ferumbras’”, in Sidney J[ohn Hervon] Herrtage, editor, Sir Ferumbras. Edited from the Unique Paper Ms. about 1380 A.D. in the Bodleian Library (Ashmole Ms. 33) (The English Charlemagne Romances; part I; Extra Series; XXXIV), London: Published for the Early English Text Society, by Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC, page xxix:

Cortine, Corteyne, or Cortayn was the name given to the sword of Ogier, one of the celebrated Douzeperes of Charlemagne.

1883, [Robert Hunter], “*cūr-têin, *cūr-tā′-na”, in The Encyclopædic Dictionary: A New and Original Work of Reference to All the Words in the English Language, […], volume II, part II, London, Paris: Cassell, Petter, Galpin, & Co. […], →OCLC, page 625, column 1:

The knights of the Round Table and the douzepers were closely associated by virtue of the juxtaposition of Arthur and Charlemagne in the Nine Worthies.

1962, “Notes”, in D[erek] A[lbert] Pearsall, editor, The Floure and the Leafe and The Assembly of Ladies (Old and Middle English Texts Series), Manchester: Manchester University Press, published 1980, →ISBN, page 149:

Roland defiantly accepts the post of danger; the douzepers and other knights join him. Ganelon leads the van of the army as it starts again toward France. The Saracens prepare for battle.

1967, J[onathan] Burke Seyers, editor, A Manual of the Writings in Middle English, 1050–1500. […], New Haven, Conn.: Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, →OCLC, page 95:

[In The Song of Roland] Ganelon makes his self-interest more obvious by nominating himself to command the van, yet Roland accepts the charge eagerly without mentioning his stepfather, fear of whose treason is so widespread that no other douzeper will volunteer for the mission.

1987, W[illiam] R[aymond] J[ohnston] Barron, “The Matter of France”, in David Carroll, Michael Wheeler, editors, English Medieval Romance (Longman Literature in English Series), Harlow, Essex: Longman, →ISBN, page 90:

(historical fiction) One of the legendary “twelve peers” or renowned warriors of Charlemagne, the Emperor of the Romans from 800 to 814.

doze per

one of the twelve peers or renowned warriors of Charlemagne — see also paladin


wayback machine

en-noun

wayback machine (plural wayback machines)

From the WABAC machine in the animated cartoon Mister Peabody, from way back (“long ago”). According to Gerard Baldwin, one of the show's directors, the spelling was a reference to the UNIVAC I computer.

I can't set Mr. Peabody's wayback machine to July 1, 1863, and take my entire class of fifth graders on a field trip to show them what the Battle of Gettysburg was like. I don't have a wayback machine.

2008, Terry Thompson, Adventures in Graphica, →ISBN:

The star middle linebacker, who will go down in history as one of the Bears' best and most popular players, willingly jumped in the wayback machine and stopped it on a game during his second NFL season.

2008, Lew Freedman, The 50 Greatest Plays in Chicago Bears Football History, →ISBN, page 42:

Reduced to its core, originalism promises that judges can ride a constitutional wayback machine, taking orders from the esteemed Founders.

2014, Michael Waldman, The Second Amendment: A Biography, →ISBN, page 111:

So let's set the wayback machine to 2009 to show an example of what I was doing back then.

2014, Michael Mowbray, Shoot to Thrill: Speedlight Flash Techniques for Photographers, →ISBN:

A time machine or other means of revisiting information about the past.

Wayback Machine (Peabody's Improbable History)


hysterical historical

hysterical historical (plural hysterical historicals)

(slang) A historical-romance novel with a focus on sex and violence.


alternate reality game

alternate reality game (plural alternate reality games)

Which is what gave Hon the shock of recognition: QAnon was behaving precisely like an alternate-reality game, or ARG.

2020 September 22, Clive Thompson, “QAnon Is Like a Game—a Most Dangerous Game”, in Wired, →ISSN:

An interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs various media to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions.


Revenge of the Fifth

Blend of Revenge of the Sith + fifth.
From the name of the Star Wars movie Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and a day of the month most similar sounding to "Sith".

(Star Wars fandom slang) The Fifth of May (May 5). The second Star Wars Day, the day after May the Fourth (May 4). Sometimes used to celebrate the Dark Side, when May 4 is used to celebrate the Jedi.

en:Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith


Revenge of the Sixth

Blend of Revenge of the Sith + sixth.
From the name of the Star Wars movie Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and a day of the month of similar sound to "Sith".

Revenge of the Fifth
Revenge of the Fifth

(Star Wars fandom slang) The Sixth of May (May 6). The third Star Wars Day, the second day after Revenge of the Fifth (May 5). Sometimes used to celebrate the Dark Side, when May 4 is used to celebrate the Jedi.


May the Fourth

(Star Wars fandom slang) Star Wars Day (May 4); the day fans celebrate Star Wars.


Trekzine

The aloofness and emotional control of Vulcans has driven many of Star Trek's female viewers crazy, for the almost-stated first principle of the Vulcan Love Story of the Trekzines is to break into the inner emotional nature of the outwardly calm Vulcan.

1975, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak, Joan Winston, Star Trek Lives!, page 86:

You are the only Trekzine of your kind, and besides that, you are of consistently high quality and classy, both in format and execution.

1981, Walter Irwin, G. B. Love, editors, The Best of Trek: From the Magazine for Star Trek, page 75:

The early Trekzine publishers like Devra Langsam, editor of the aforementioned Spockanalia and later of Masiform D, used mimeo, often with astonishingly good results.

1997 October 29, Judygran, “Re: Fanfic, Writing 'n' Stuff (Re: Slash writers (long)(reply is long too!)”, in alt.startrek.creative (Usenet):

(dated, fandom slang) A Star Trek fanzine.


Trekfandom

I learned to write through fanzines, and have made many wonderful friends through Trekfandom.

1990, Jean Lorrah, Metamorphosis, unnumbered page:

(A celebrated point of dispute in Trekfandom is James Kirk's continual violation of the 'prime directive' not to interfere in the internal affairs of other planets, seen as an expression of colonialist attitudes in the U.S. in the late 60s.)

1994, Anne Cranny-Francis, Popular Culture, page 67:

Opinions among fans may differ but I personally think most of Trekfandom is united in their dissatisfaction with the show.

1996 September 3, heds...@utk.edu, “Re: why is everybody blasting this show????”, in alt.tv.star-trek.voyager (Usenet):

(fandom slang) The fandom of the Star Trek science-fiction franchise.


Trekdom

She is so involved in Trekdom that she can pick up the phone just once and contact I don't how many meticulously organized Star Trek fandoms.

1983, Theodore Sturgeon, "Introduction", in Sonni Cooper, Black Fire, unnumbered page

As is well known in Trekdom, the early Klingons were a thinly veiled metaphor for the Soviet Union.

2009, Yonassan Gershom, Jewish Themes in Star Trek, page 100:

She was cataloguing my collection of Trek zines because it contained items she hadn't heard of elsewhere, a real treasure trove of Trekdom.

2013, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, “Recollections of a Collating Party”, in Anne Jamison, editor, Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World, page 92:


Trekfan

From Trek + fan. For the irregular plural, compare trufan.

(dated, fandom slang) Synonym of Trekkie


Klingonesque

en-adj

Klingonesque (comparative more Klingonesque, superlative most Klingonesque)

more Klingonesque (comparative)
most Klingonesque (superlative)


Batfleck

Blend of Batman + Affleck, from the actor Ben Affleck.

The man under the batsuit in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice is actor Ben Affleck, a casting decision that had been loudly critiqued as out of step with Batman's character. With reservations about “Batfleck” already resonant, Snyder's photo was an apt target for a flurry of memetic reappropriation.

2016, Ryan M. Milner, The World Made Meme: Public Conversations and Participatory Media, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 55:

Chloe holds up her cell, showing me the text I'd sent of Ben Affleck in the Batman costume. “You sent us Batfleck.”

2018, Elyssa Patrick, With Me Boxed Set Books 1 - 4, page 1711:

Sure, in the early 1960s, Superman was lean and toned, but at that time he lacked the hyperbolic, indeed, comic musculature that came to mark so many other entries into the superhero genre. (Yes, I'm talking about you, Batfleck.)

2019, Douglas E. Cowan, Magic, Monsters, and Make-Believe Heroes: How Myth and Religion Shape Fantasy Culture, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 11:

(fandom slang) A nickname for the version of Batman interpreted by Ben Affleck, which debuted in the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) from the DC Extended Universe.


Dickensesque

Dickensesque (comparative more Dickensesque, superlative most Dickensesque)

more Dickensesque (comparative)
most Dickensesque (superlative)

Characteristic of the writings of the English author Charles Dickens.


J/C

Initialism from the names Janeway and Chakotay.

(Had I missed "Elogium" I would have oh-so-little material for the J/C crusade!)

1995 December 1, schlock, “STARDIARY #6: MAYBE IT'S TIME TREKKERS WENT *ON STRIKE*.”, in alt.startrek (Usenet):

I am thinking of starting an all-ages list for J/C fans […]

1998 October 6, MsSpooky83, “OT-J/C mailing list?”, in alt.startrek (Usenet):

Christine says this is possibly her last J/C fic, but I seriously hope it's not as her 'voice' in VOY fic is truly memorable.

2013 March 29, ASC Awards, “ASC Awards Comment Digest #246 Janeway/Chakotay”, in alt.startrek.creative (Usenet):

(fandom slang) The ship of characters Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay from the television series Star Trek: Voyager.


J/C

Initialism from the names Jaime and Cersei.

(fandom slang) The canonical incestuous ship of the fictional twins Jaime Lannister and Cersei Lannister from the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation Game of Thrones.


J/Cer

They are both in a script-like style I am a committed J/Cer, so I do include romantic developments.

1996 September 19, CWilson980, “Voy Alternate Basics J/C pt 1”, in alt.startrek.creative (Usenet):

The story I'm referring to was identified as a vignette and it was very sad, well at least it was sad for a J/Cer such as I.

1998 April 12, Di, “Help finding a Story”, in alt.startrek.creative (Usenet):

A lovely 'what if' that all ardent J/Cers would love to see.

2001 March 23, Kattz, “VOY Feedback Vote #3 by CyberMum”, in alt.startrek.creative (Usenet):

A fan who ships the Star Trek characters Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay.


beastman

(fantasy) An intelligent man-sized beast with varying characteristics.


leogryph

A mythical animal, part lion and part griffin.


Trekkish

Trekkish (comparative more Trekkish, superlative most Trekkish)

more Trekkish (comparative)
most Trekkish (superlative)


phlebotinum

(science fiction) A fictional material used by authors to develop a plot requiring a material with properties not possessed by any real material.


evolutionaries

(science fiction) A group of more evolved sentient beings.


xaser

If we could produce a 'Xaser', could we also produce an image of a crystal structure?

1970, Henry Lipson, Crystals and X-rays, page 190:

Perhaps some day there will be an x-ray system — a xaser — although it will probably self-destruct on each operation.

1978, Laser Focus, volume 14, numbers 7-12, page 57:


therianthropy

/ˌθɛɹiˈænθɹəpi/

(mythology) Shapeshifting between human and animal forms.

Despite occasional YouTube videos which demonstrate the activities of a 'howl' (a wolf meet), the small amount of existing research into therianthropy as a cultural phenomenon demonstrates that the communities largely exist online and rarely venture into real space.

2017, Debra Benita Shaw, Posthuman Urbanism: Mapping Bodies in Contemporary City Space, page 142:

(otherkin subculture) The characteristic of being a therianthrope; therianism.


cognitive estrangement

Coined by Yugoslav-born academic, writer and critic Darko Suvin in his 1979 book Metamorphoses of Science Fiction.

In his book Metamorphoses of Science Fiction (1979), Suvin introduced a number of ideas that remain central in sf criticism: cognitive estrangement, the novum and sf's genetic link with utopia. In the notion of cognitive estrangement, Suvin conflate two distinct, but related, ideas of estrangement from earlier literary theory: ostranenie (de-familiarization) from the Russian Formalists, and Berthold Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect).[…]Even more influential in sf theory than cognitive estrangement is Suvin's concept of the novum.

2003, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr., “7: Marxist theory and science fiction”, in Edward James, Farah Mendlesohn, editors, The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, Cambridge University Press, page 118:

Cognitive estrangement can therefore be seen as defining the textual effects of such work: the text faces its audience with something that will not fit into the existing patterns of verisimilitude, yet is being asserted and explored as fact.

2005, Jan Johnson-Smith, American Science Fiction TV: Star Trek, Stargate and Beyond, I.B. Tauris, page 26:

Darko Suvin, the eminent theorist of science fiction, defined science fiction as a literature of cognitive estrangement, a genre in which the reader enters an imaginative world different or estranged from his or her empirical world, but different in a way that obeys rational causation or scientific law: thus, it is estranged cognitively.

2011, Roger Luckhurst, “1: In the Zone: Topologies of Genre Weirdness”, in Sara Wasson, Emily Alder, editors, Gothic Science Fiction 1980-2010, Liverpool University Press, page 21:

(literature, narratology) A narrative logic, characteristic of science fiction, whereby devices used in the story are afforded plausibility by their being placed in the context of the fictional setting, which is envisioned to be scientifically consistent.

spoznajnog očuđenja

narrative logic characteristic of science fiction


Jovial

/ˈd͡ʒəʊ.vɪ.əl/

(astronomy, obsolete) Pertaining to the planet Jupiter; Jovian.

I know the ſhape of's Legge: this is his Hand: / His Foote Mercuriall: his martiall Thigh / The brawnes of Hercules: but his Iouiall face— / Murther in heaven?

1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 390, column 1:

It was pointed out in chapter 3 that [C. S.] Lewis liked to regard Jupiter as his personal presiding deity, but Mercury would have been almost as apt a choice, for Lewis had been extraordinarily favoured by that Intelligence whom, in ‘The Planets,’ he calls the ‘Lord of language’: both as a speaker and as a writer Lewis was uncommonly fluent. However, despite these talents, despite the fact that he saw Mercurial as well as Jovial strains in his paternity, and despite his opinion that Mercury shared with Jupiter a special need of rehabilitation, Lewis claimed no special relationship with the planet of the second sphere. In fact, he confesses that the Mercurial essence is almost beyond his grasp: […]

2008, Michael Ward, Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:

(Roman mythology, obsolete) Pertaining to the Roman god Jove or Jupiter (the counterpart of the Greek god Zeus), the god of the sky and thunder and the king of the gods; Jovian.


Jovial

/ˈd͡ʒəʊ.vɪ.əl/

(chiefly science fiction) An inhabitant of the planet Jupiter; a Jovian.


wiggins

Alteration of wiggings, from wig (“to be nervous or fearful”). First recorded use in 1997, in the first episode of the American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Compare also wigging out.

We could meet someplace quieter. Louder. Uh, that place just kind of gives me the wiggins.

1997 March 10, “Welcome to the Hellmouth”, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar):

Living in Rush's world never failed to give me the wiggins, but this time I barely noticed.

2014, Ian Thomas Healy, Scott Bachmann, Frank Byrns, The Good Fight:

(slang) The creeps; a feeling of fear or anxiety.


underverse

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

With this insight they are able to understand this universe and the underverse. In the underverse, space and time are different due to the change in mass due to the feild generated to protect from the foreign opposite universe.

2014, Eric Thompson, The Slave, The Sword and the Stars, page 237:

(science fiction) An alternate universe located in some sense underneath the real one.


Robin Goodfellow

(mythology) Puck (the mischievous sprite)


say the quiet part loud

en-verb

say the quiet part loud (third-person singular simple present says the quiet part loud, present participle saying the quiet part loud, simple past and past participle said the quiet part loud)

says the quiet part loud (present singular third-person)
saying the quiet part loud (participle present)
said the quiet part loud (participle past)
said the quiet part loud (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-say the quiet part loud.wav

Corpus searches seem to confirm that this phrase was absent from widespread usage until after the mid-1990s, when the cartoon character Krusty the Clown used a similar phrase in the episode "A Star Is Burns" of the American animated TV series The Simpsons, saying, "I said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet."

“Just what are you trying to say here, Miss Parker?”
“That you’re a jingoistic idiot.” Yeah, I said the quiet part loud. I blame the pain meds. But there‘s no way I was letting this metal-heavy moron lecture me about my duty to my country, without giving me the chance to make up my own mind.

2012, Dana Fredsti, Plague Town: An Ashley Parker Novel, Titan Books, chapt. 9

Santorum says that it’s not about contraception, it’s about any type of medical treatment. Which...seems to me like he’s saying the quiet part loud again! But yes, the Blunt Amendment would give any employer the right to withhold any type of medical care for any reason.

2012 March 4, Jason Linkins, “TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads”, in The Huffington Post:

Donald Trump is not subtle. While normal political language functions through implication and indirection, Mr. Trump luxuriates in saying the quiet part loud. But in doing so, Mr. Trump exposes what drives the politics of the movement he commands.

2018 March 17, Chris Hayes, “Chris Hayes: What ‘Law and Order’ Means to Trump”, in The New York Times:

“When you’re a star, they let you do it,” the president, Epstein’s sometime associate, infamously bragged, once again saying, with stunning efficiency, the quiet part loud.

2019 July 9, Megan Garber, “When Jeffrey Epstein Joked About Sex Abuse”, in The Atlantic:

The popular Twitter meme that originated from reporter Jared Sexton after Donald Trump Jr. tweeted out his Trump Tower meeting email exchanges has come to encapsulate the Trump era — a rare moment in our political history in which saying the quiet part out loud is a routine line of defense.

2019 October 3, Nicole Lafond, “Trump Keeps Saying The Quiet Part Out Loud — Ostensibly To Protect Himself”, in Talking Points Memo:

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said that Ms. Steinbach had said the quiet part out loud, to chilling effect.

2023 April 9, Vimal Patel, “Stanford Law School’s Dean Takes a Stand for Free Speech. Will It Work?”, in The New York Times, New York City, retrieved 2023-04-09:

(idiomatic) To publicly express a sentiment which one is expected to keep to oneself; to reveal an ulterior motive.

A Star Is Burns
Krusty the Clown
The Simpsons


cool kid

"There was a lot of anticipation for this album," says Lisa Worden, music director of L.A. radio station KROQ-FM. "With Green Day now all over MTV and the mainstream, Rancid is the cool band. All the cool kids are wearing Rancid T-shirts."

1995 September 3, Steve Hochman, “They're Rancid, Not Spoiled; They have major labels calling. Their fans worship them. But somehow these guys are staying true to their punk roots.”, in Los Angeles Times, page 5:

And isn't that the basis of so much of today's marketing, regardless of the product being sold? Be a rebel! Be an individual like everyone else! Rebels drink Diet Pepsi! Rebels watch the rebel director's new rebel film, Panic Room! It's dark and edgy and all the cool kids love it!

2002 April 26, Eric Gravning, “Not to Panic”, in The Texas Observer, volume 94, number 8, page 26:

But you want to be a continuous partial attention ninja master because you've been told that all of the cool kids are.

2004, [2005], Danah Boyd, “Autistic Social Software,”, in Best Software Writing I, Apress, Ed. Joel Spolsky, →ISBN, page 39:

"Cereal for dinner?" He grinned and ruffled Alison's hair. "Is that what all the cool kids are doing now?"

2010, Jonathan Bernstein, Burning Ambition, Penguin, →ISBN, page 154:

Punch, in case you didn't know, is what the cool kids are drinking.

2010 November 10, Jason Wilson, “The cool kids beat me to the punch”, in Washington Post:

(informal, chiefly in the plural) A trendsetter, often a hipster; one considered worthy of emulation for their fashion sense etc.


bondmate

"They permit the bonded to speak to each other's minds and they can be used to monitor the bondmate's well being. With the deeper bonds, it allows one bondmate to share the pain and wounds of the other, to avert what might otherwise be a fatal injury.

2014, Ekaterine Xia, Phoenix Chosen, Ekaterine Xia, →ISBN, page 176:

Not because she wanted to hurt something, but rather because her bondmate called to her instinctual desire to mate.

2014, Michele Hauf, Ghost Wolf, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 280:

She's also my bondmate.

2016, L.A. Starkey, Chess Desalls, Kelly Hall, Tricia Copeland, Melanie Rodriguez, Spellbound: A Paranormal Young Adult Novella Collection, BrixBaxter Publishing, page 94

(fantasy) A person with whom one has an intimate emotional or spiritual bond.