subterrene

From Latin subterrēnus. By surface analysis, sub- + terrene.

With a deafening screech of metal upon rock—which surely must echo through all the recesses of the Mountain, and waken all its nightmare brood!—the subterrene smashed through the wall and came to rest beside them.

1956, Arthur C. Clarke, chapter 1, in The City and the Stars:

In the first field tests, a series of holes 2 inches in diameter and 12 feet deep were sunk with the rock-melting device, or subterrene.

1972, American Nuclear Society, Nuclear News, volume 15, page 47:

… “The beauty of the Subterrene is that, as it burrows through the rock hundreds of feet below the surface, it heats whatever stone it encounters into molten rock, or magma, which cools after the Subterrene has moved on. …

2009, November, Mark Ellis as James Axler, Outlanders 051: Warlord of the Pit

(rare) A machine for drilling or tunneling underground.

подзе́мная ло́дка

a machine for drilling or tunneling underground


puff the magic dragon

en-verb

puff the magic dragon (third-person singular simple present puffs the magic dragon, present participle puffing the magic dragon, simple past and past participle puffed the magic dragon)

puffs the magic dragon (present singular third-person)
puffing the magic dragon (participle present)
puffed the magic dragon (participle past)
puffed the magic dragon (past)

From the name of a song, Puff, the Magic Dragon (1963), reinterpreting puff as a verb. The authors of the song have repeatedly denied that it is about marijuana.

Sure, he puffed the magic dragon — who didn't? — but no cocaine, no heroin.

2006, Richard Greener, The Lacey Confession:


vidscreen

“The homeopape conjectures were correct,” Felix Blau, boss of the police agency, was saying on the vidscreen.

1965, Philip K. Dick, “The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch”, in Four Novels of the 1960s, Library of America, published 2007, page 246:

The vidscreen was on in the shop, but all it did was preach about the wonders of colonial life and tell how paradise could be found by emigrating to the smaller planets of the Althosian system.


merchild

The fish-tailed merchild carved in crumbling stone
Wreathed with loose straggling roses, reigns alone...

1904, Thomas Bird Mosher, The Bibelot, page 160:

There were mermaids with gold chains around slinky long tails, swimming along with little merchildren.

2003, Liz Kessler, The Tail of Emily Windsnap, Scholastic, →ISBN, page 57:

He shuddered as he thought about all the stories he had heard as a young merchild.

2003, Debbie Viguié, Midnight Pearls, Simon Pulse, →ISBN, page 80:

The young of either sex of a legendary creature, human from the waist up, fishlike from the waist down.


planetfall

From planet + fall, by analogy with landfall.

“Listen up, grunts. We'll be making planetfall in T-minus three minutes. You'll be joining the war against the Scourge, an alien race of soulless, ruthless automatons.”

2024 August 12, Joe Saunders, “The Battle of Zab 9” (1:00 from the start), in Solar Opposites, season 5, episode 9, spoken by Screaming Grunt (Nick Reczynski):

(science fiction) The arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of a planet.


carplane

Outside Bedrock headed for a carplane stop in a meditative mood.

1951, Alfred Elton Van Vogt, The weapon shops of Isher:

Unlike some other fictional portrayals of future family life — which simply place traditional family structures in a high-tech futuristic setting of carplanes, fully automated appliances, interplanetary civilizations, and robot servants […]

2002, David M. Newman, Elizabeth Grauerholz, Sociology of families:

The sides of the carplane will open by moving slowly down under the floor of the car. There won't be any maps and we'll never get lost because carplanes will always know where to go.

2009, Caroline Nixon, Michael Tomlinson, Kid's Box 6 Pupil's Book, Volume 6:

(science fiction) A vehicle that can drive on land like a car or fly like an aeroplane.


telescreen

From tele- + screen, from television. Popularized by George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), in which they are used for government surveillance of citizens.

Too many millions of people, watching their telescreens, had seen his unpardonable arrogance.

1973, Robert Theobald, Stephanie Mills, The failure of success: ecological values vs. economic myths:

She pushed buttons at a new, small oval kind of telescreen, quickly gathering together the high-level authorizations it had taken hours of preparation to collect.

2002, Teresa Plowright, Dreams of an Unseen Planet:

(science fiction) A screen for broadcasting television or similar media.


bodynet

From body + net, in the sense of network.

Think of yourself on some evening in the not-so-distant future, when wearable, fitted, and implanted electronic organs connected by bodynets are as commonplace as cotton […]

1996, William J. Mitchell, City of bits: space, place, and the infobahn:

A cathedral of light, if you will, of prefabricated carbon-fiber and lightweight synthetic thermal resins; equipped with stereo-immersive walls and motion sensors that respond via a bodynet to my ever shifting loci of desires and needs […]

1998, John Beckmann, The virtual dimension: architecture, representation, and crash culture:

With this technology, in the near future, people can participate in parties without leaving the house, needing only to dress in a bodynet (clothe^([sic]) with sensors).

2008, Julio Francisco Dantas de Rezende, Transpersonal Management: lessons from the Matrix trilogy:

(science fiction) An array of technology attached to the body.


firedrake

From Middle English firdrake, from Old English fȳrdraca (“fire-spewing dragon”), equivalent to fire + drake.

inh

[…] the incensed firedrake, in revenge, flies all over the land, vomiting fire and smoke in every direction, […]

1913, Helene A. Guerber, The Book of the Epic:

Then was the folk-scather for the third of times yet, The fierce fire-drake, all mindful of feud;

1895, W Morris, AJ Wyatt (trans.), The Tale of Beowulf (2689):

A fiery meteor, an ignis fatuus, a rocket

(figurative, poetic) A worker at a furnace or fire


cavorite

From Cavor + -ite. First used in 1901 in The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells. It was named after the fictional Dr. Cavor. The initial use was capitalized, but later authors borrowing the concept sometimes changed it to lowercase.
In the first use, the metal acted as a gravity shield; after the metal was cooled, objects contained within it were no longer subject to gravity. Some later uses, e.g., Alan Moore's, imagine the substance to simply have a negative gravitational mass.

“It seems to me it wouldn't cost much to cart any weight anywhere if you packed it in a Cavorite case.”

1901, H. G. Wells, The First Men in the Moon, Chapter 3:

“In the early years, they were the most primitive structures ever to fly in space, cheap and overbuilt and overcrewed, hoisted on cavorite wings.”

1999, Vernor Vinge, A Deepness in the Sky, reprinted by Macmillan, published 2000, →ISBN, page 760:

(science fiction) A hypothetical substance with anti-gravity effects.


Puck

From puck (“mischievous spirit”), from Middle English pouke, from Old English pūca (“goblin, demon”), from Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pāug(')- (“brilliance, spectre”). Cognate with Icelandic púki, dialectal Swedish puke (“devil”), Middle Low German spūk (“apparition, ghost”), German Spuk (“a haunting”). More at spook.

cog

(mythology) A mischievous sprite in Celtic mythology and English folklore.


Thumbelina

/ˌθʌmbəˈliːnə/

From thumb, as a calque of Danish Tommelise, the original name created by Hans Christian Andersen.

ثُومْبِلِينَا

a thumb-sized girl, the main character of a fairy tale


stego

First felt both happy and sad at the sight of the old stegosaurus. She thought of the time Mother had first brought her this way. She had growled at the giant stego, albeit from a safe distance.

2017, Seth Chambers, Her Rule Would Always Last, →ISBN, page 44:


sacrilicious

en-adj

sacrilicious (comparative more sacrilicious, superlative most sacrilicious)

more sacrilicious (comparative)
most sacrilicious (superlative)

/sækɹəˈlɪʃəs/

Blend of sacrilegious + delicious, coined in a 1994 episode of the animated TV series The Simpsons (see quotation below).

I know I shouldn't eat thee, Lord, but... mmmm, sacrilicious.

1994 March 17, “Homer Loves Flanders”, in The Simpsons, season 5, episode 16, spoken by Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta (voice)):

Not for the modest, at those times, the secluded bar area features several TVs showing porn while you eat and drink. Mmmm, sacrilicious.

2004 October 27, Elizabeth Canning Blackwell, Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago, 5th edition, Hoboken: Wiley, →ISBN, →OL, page 194:

Sellers offered VMGC T-shirts — "I ate the Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese ... It was Sacrilicious!"

2006 April 15, Susanna Paasonen, “"Virgin Mary in Grilled Cheese NOT A HOAX! LOOK & SEE!"”, in Everyday eBay: Culture, Collecting, And Desire, New York: Routledge, →ISBN, →OL, page 201:

Maybe they thought it would be inappropriate — dare I say, sacri-licious — to eat the animal the team is named after.

2007 March 1, Josh Pahigian, The Ultimate Minor League Baseball Road Trip: A Fan's Guide to AAA, AA, A, and Independent League Stadiums, Globe Pequot, →ISBN, →OL, page 44:

(slang, humorous) producing pleasure through the violation of taboos


white knight

Forget about one possible white knight for Potash. Vale, the big Brazilian mining company, denied on Monday afternoon that it was in talks to acquire the giant Canadian fertilizer company.

2010 August 23, “Vale Denies It Is Potash's White Knight”, in NY Times DealBook:

(business) An individual or corporation that intends to acquire another company in order to avert a hostile takeover.

白騎士 /白骑士

(fiction) A hero, savior, or righteous individual.


chronoclasm

From Ancient Greek χρόνος (khrónos, “time”), and κλάστης (klástēs, “a person who breaks something”); from κλάω (kláō, “break”).

(science fiction) An interference with the course of history caused by time travel.


medscanner

He knelt beside Crusher and watched, briefly useless, as she passed her medscanner over the body. Except that it wasn't a body.

1997, Diane Duane, Intellivore, page 102:

Deep wounds in his chest were seeping blood, and the medscanner Tacitus had pressed against his neck showed his vital signs on the wane.

(science fiction, chiefly Star Trek) A portable device capable of scanning a patient to diagnose sickness or injury.


TNG

Star Trek: The Next Generation
w:Star Trek: The Next Generation

(television) Initialism of Star Trek: The Next Generation.


CSM

company sergeant major
company sergeant major#English

(Commonwealth, military) Initialism of company sergeant major.

customer success manager
customer success manager#English

(business) Initialism of customer success manager.

By 1968, CSM was in such a powerful position that he gave orders to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and “worked hard to keep any President from knowing” he even existed.

1997, James Hatfield, George "Doc" Burt, The Unauthorized X-cylopedia: The Definitive Reference Guide to The X-Files, page 57:

Although the CSM has few lines, metaphorically he represents all the secret U.S. operatives of the cold war and after.

2001, Ray Pratt, Projecting Paranoia: Conspiratorial Visions in American Film, page 232:

By the way, I realize the CSM is the show’s resident villain, but the WMM has always struck me as being more sinister.

2002, Tom Kessenich, EXaminations: An Unauthorized Look at Seasons 6-9 of The X-Files, page 11:

Cigarette Smoking Man
w:Cigarette Smoking Man

(X-Files fandom slang) Initialism of Cigarette Smoking Man.


CSM

Cantiga de Santa Maria
w:Cantigas de Santa Maria

(music) Initialism of Cantiga de Santa Maria.


Belial

From Latin Bĕlĭal, from Hebrew בְלִיַּעַל.
Of uncertain origin. It has been conventionally been interpreted as בְּלִי (“without”) + a word meaning "use" (hence "useless, worthless"), but it is unclear what the latter word is.

bor

Hebrew בְלִיַּעַל

Here, too, the poet calls attention to Belial's role as one who blurs the borderline between essence and appearance: Belial himself seems fair (physically attractive), but is empty inside, and Milton was surely aware that in Hebrew the first syllable of the fallen angel's name means without.

2016 February 24, Nancy Rosenfeld, The Human Satan in Seventeenth-Century English Literature: From Milton to Rochester, Routledge, →ISBN, page 93:

(mythology) A wicked demon in Christian and Jewish apocrypha.

بليعال

a wicked demon in Christian and Jewish apocrypha


jump drive

(USB flash drive): A trademark name of flash drives owned by Lexar.

(science fiction) A means of travelling faster than light by jumping from one point to another in space.


hyperjump

(science fiction) A jump that transports some physical object immediately from one place to another, as by a hyperdrive or jump drive.


Gehenna

heaven

antonym(s) of “Christianity, uncountable”

Hawaiian: kehena

Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin gehenna, from Ancient Greek γέεννα (géenna), from Hebrew גֵּיהִנּוֹם (ge'henom, “hell”, literally “valley of Hinnom”), named after the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem, which was constantly filled with the waste of the city, which was then burnt. Heinous deeds are also associated with this valley, as during the time when Jerusalem was ruled by non-Jews (referred to in scriptures simply as 'pagans') child sacrifice was practiced there.


ghostbusting

(informal) The activities of a ghostbuster; exorcism of ghosts.


qilin

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 麒麟 (qílín). Doublet of kirin.

...a red and gold textile with phoenixes in one row swooping towards qilins in the next amidst a densely foliated ground...

1989, Ernst J. Grube, Eleanor G. Sims, Islamic Art: Volume 3:

Roundel depicting dragon attacked by qilins; mounted on an album page.

2001, David J. Roxburgh, Prefacing the image: the writing of art history in sixteenth-century Iran:

When the qilin leaves, the emperor traces the shapes he saw into the dirt.

2010, Molly Blaisdell, Necdet Yilmaz, Truth about Unicorns:

A mythical Chinese hooved chimerical creature, said to appear in conjunction with the arrival of a sage.


Esperantujo

Unadapted borrowing from Esperanto Esperantujo (from Esperanto + -ujo (“country”)).

ubor

The entire community of Esperantists (Esperanto speakers)


Gleek

I'm more of a Gleek myself.

2009 September 7, Jason Wuthrich, “Re: OT what new shows are you looking forward to seeing this fall season?”, in alt.tv.american-idol (Usenet):

2010, Evie Parker, 100% Gleek: The Unofficial Guide to Glee:

Well I thought she looked quite cute, so I Googled her. I'm not yet a full on Gleek, honest!

2010 February 3, Fred X, “Re: Glee - the woman from Pushing Daisies”, in uk.media.tv.misc (Usenet):

are there any other Gleeks out here in viPhone land? I saw on my facebook today that there's a Glee app!! $2.99 so I grabbed it. maybe I shouldn't have seeing all the financial stress I'm currently under but I'm a Gleek in a big way!! so I couldn't resist!! I needed to check it out!!!

2010 April 17, "Jessica and Goldina", "anyone try the Glee app?", in "VIPhone" (Google Groups group)

Yep... I'm a "Gleek"! (I'm sure it's partially due to being in band in high school, as we usually did a medley of songs from a musical during each performance.)

2010 April 30, Zoot, “Re: Glee-------”, in alt.x.y (Usenet):

Fair warning: One is the beginning of a musical number that's been on every Gleek's watch-list since Spears tweeted this pic.

2010 September 24, Kate Stanhope, “Do You Mind That Glee Can't Keep a Secret?”, in TVGuide:

And you call yourself a Gleek...

2010 September 27, Don Del Grande, “Re: 09/26/2010 New Episode”, in alt.tv.simpsons (Usenet):

(fandom slang) A fan of the television show Glee.


antitelephone

(physics) A hypothetical device, used in thought experiments on causality, that could be used to send signals into one's own past.


starfaring

From star + faring, modelled on seafaring.

The Migrant Fleet is the largest concentration of starfaring vessels in the galaxy, sprawling across millions of kilometers. It can take days for the entire fleet to pass through a mass relay.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Quarians: Migrant Fleet Codex entry:

(science fiction) Travelling among the stars.


slashable

en-adj

slashable (comparative more slashable, superlative most slashable)

more slashable (comparative)
most slashable (superlative)

I met so many other great people who have a similar interest in pairing up those oh-so-slashable couples.

1999, Reesa, “My very late Friscon report”, in alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated (Usenet):

(fandom slang) Suitable for writing slash fan fiction about.


paizuri

en-noun

paizuri (countable and uncountable, plural paizuri or paizuris)

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

Borrowed from Japanese パイ擦(ず)り (paizuri), a blend of オッパイ (oppai, “titty”) + 擦(す)り (suri, “rubbing”).


Hooke's atom

The harmonic potential used to describe the electron-nucleus interaction is a consequence of Hooke's law.

(quantum mechanics) An artificial helium-like atom where the Coulombic electron-nucleus interaction potential is replaced by a harmonic potential.


Romulan

From Romulus + -an. From the Star Trek franchise, in which they are described as being from the planet Romulus, drawing inspiration from the Roman origin story of Romulus and Remus.

"Some sort of Romulan game," Riker said thoughtfully. "Trying to make us guess what they're up to."

1999, Peter Allen David, Double or Nothing:

"He looks like a Romulan." Suddenly, her attention is focused on him and she calls across the street, "Hey, monkey Romulan, sort it out!"

...the law vaporizes like a Romulan warrior into the ions of space.

2001, Michael W McConnell, Robert F Cochran, Angela C Carmella, Christian perspectives on legal thought:

A member of a fictional alien race, described as being cunning and opportunistic.


Romulan

en-adj

Romulan (comparative more Romulan, superlative most Romulan)

more Romulan (comparative)
most Romulan (superlative)

Pertaining to the fictional extraterrestrial race, or its fictional polity, the Romulan Star Empire; from Star Trek.


Romulan

constructed language
constructed language#English

A fictional language and a constructed language. The fictional language of the Romulans, a fictional extraterrestrial race from Star Trek. Created words and phrases from Star Trek have been latterly expanded upon to create a constructed language, that some among the Star Trek fandom attempt to build into a usable language.


Chekhov's gun

Calque of Russian Чеховское ружьё (Čexovskoje ružʹjó). The principle was articulated by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov and reported in various forms.

cal

Чеховское ружьё

The episode of the sun-god's island is the Odyssey's equivalent of Chekhov's gun, announced in the poem's earliest lines as the occasion of the companions' downfall and anticipated ever since.

2005, John Miles Foley, A companion to ancient epic, →ISBN, page 324:

He is Chekhov's gun on the wall, destined to go off at the crucial moment.

2007, John Updike, Due considerations: essays and criticism, →ISBN, page 336:

An element that is introduced early in the story whose significance to the plot does not become clear until later.


Twihard

Getting "Twihards" who love virtuous vampires to buy the soundtrack is easy — but getting Radiohead fans to plunk down cash for a little bit of the "New Moon" universe will be a coup.

2009 October 3, Ann Donahue, “'New Moon' Rising”, in Billboard, page 19:

Beginning at popular Rialto Beach, share this classic coastline with beachcombers, dog walkers (allowed on-leash to Ellen Creek), and scores of Twihards from across the country.

2011, Craig Romano, Backpacking Washington: Overnight and Multiday Routes, The Mountaineers Books, published 2011, →ISBN, page 38:

'Not me, I'm an out and out Twihard, loved the vampires in Twilight – still do, always will – so I know what it's like when people take the mickey. My brothers drew huge fangs and devil tails on all my posters of Robert Pattinson.'

2014, Samantha Tonge, From Paris, With Love, Carina, published 2014, →ISBN:

(fandom slang) An avid fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight book series or the related films.


Jaspis

Blend of jasper and lapis (from lapis lazuli).

(fandom slang) The ship of characters Lazuli Jasper and Lapis Lazulifrom the Steven Universe series.


Obi-Wan Kenobi

Coined for the movie character Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Master in the Star Wars films, introduced in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.


AMV

Coordinate term: PMV

Initialism of anime music video: a fan-made anime clipshow set to music.


slumberland

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

Julia therefore sank back into slumberland, and forgot all about her friend's dream, but not so Beth. The fear of what she dreamed haunted her...

1903, Dorothy C. Paine, A Little Florida Lady:

An imaginary place inhabited by those who are asleep; (by extension) the state of slumber.


reem

Bos primigenius
Bos primigenius#Translingual

A large horned animal in ancient Hebrew literature, variously identified with the wild ox or aurochs (Bos primigenius), the Arabian oryx, or a mythical creature (compare unicorn).


molecular assembler

en-noun

molecular assembler (plural molecular assemblers)

(science fiction) A device that, given an object and sufficient atoms of the required elements, would reproduce exact copies.


rebis

From Latin rēs (“matter”) + Latin bīna (“double”).

af

While the rebis is the final form of alchemical variability, the larger process of alchemy looked to mercury as both the agent and patient of transformative possibilities.

2023, Micah James Goodrich, “Trans Animacies and Premodern Alchemies”, in Medieval Mobilities: Gendered Bodies, Spaces, and Movements, page 214:

(alchemy, fiction) The end product of the alchemical magnum opus, a reunion of opposing qualities such as spirit and matter or male and female, represented by an androgynous being.


fujo

Clipping of fujoshi, from Japanese 腐女子 (ふじょし, fujoshi, literally “rotten girl”).

uder

They consider themselves “Fujo” (Yaoi readers or creators are referred as “Fujoshi” in Japanese) and they have been reading Yaoi for more than five years.

2010, Dienfang Chou, “Exploring the Meaning of Yaoi in Taiwan for Female Readers: From the Perspective of Gender”, in Intercultural Communication Studies, volume 19, number 1, page 82:

people be like “fujos suck and fetishize gay men” and then talk about their favorite BL 😳😳

2019 October 25, mahi alina (@noctupavo), Twitter:

"So, while I'm personally self-aware of the fact that I'm a fujoshi," she continued, "I would still be upset if someone were to say, 'You're into that fujoshi crap?' or call me a 'nasty fujo' to my face. […]

2022, Kota Nozomi, translated by Tristan K. Hill, When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace, Volume 1, unnumbered page:

(informal, fandom slang, sometimes derogatory) A female fan of yaoi or more broadly of slash fiction.


Basic Pokémon

A Pokémon card (in Pokémon Trading Card Game) that does not evolve from any other Pokémon card, or evolves from a Baby Pokémon card.


mytharc

Blend of mythology + story arc, used originally and most commonly in reference to The X-Files.

This [Neon Genesis Evangelion] is one show that -really- has me sucked in. And yes, their mytharc has to be the most perfectly constructed thing I've ever seen. :)

1999, Heath Smith, “TAN: Neon Genesis and how to do the mytharc properly”, in aus.tv.x-files (Usenet):

I think this is what you seek to avoid in mytharcs - a plot that drowns out the character-based drama and morality plays that are still Gene's finest legacy.

2000, Allronix, “An open letter to Ms. Roddenberry”, in alt.tv.earth-final-conflict (Usenet):

The mytharc is a continuous story line about the government's involvement in a plot to cover up the presence of extraterrestrials on Earth.

2008, J. P. Telotte, The essential science fiction television reader, page 234:

(fandom slang) The ongoing story arc that underpins all episodes of a television series.


werewolfish

en-adj

werewolfish (comparative more werewolfish, superlative most werewolfish)

more werewolfish (comparative)
most werewolfish (superlative)

When one of the girls goes down into the basement, she is devoured by the POV accompanied by audio portions of werewolfish sounds.

1999, Laurence A. Rickels, The vampire lectures, page 259:

Resembling or characteristic of a werewolf.


superkick

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

(physics, astronomy) An ultrarelativistic interaction between two spinning black holes.

professional wrestling
professional wrestling

(professional wrestling) A high side thrust kick attack, which sees the wrestler use the sole of the foot to strike an opponent's head or chin.

Thirty minutes later this superkick landed me, when I came crashing back to earth, at the door of the Egyptian tomb.

1920, The Saturday Evening Post, Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society, page 129:

"Mere you-tickle-me-I-tickle you stuff. No Urge^([sic]) about that sort of thing; no Superkick;—well Starfire, if you know what I mean!"— she said it shyly, being young enough and Anglo-Saxon enough, to dread the language.

1933, Eleanor Mercein Kelly, Arabesque, Harper & Brothers, page 231:

Lori Couto's SUPERKICK?

1980, Berkley Middle School Yearbook, Berkley Public Library, page 29:

At the end of the season, in December, they have a competitive and hilarious “superkick,’ a contest measuring accuracy, distance, and style (“style meaning how mongrelly your kicks are”), but that’s generally the extent of formal ceremony, a fact Kelly savors.

2004, Brian Doyle, Spirited Men: Story, Soul & Substance, Cowley Publications, →ISBN, page 127:

(martial arts, video games, fantasy, science fiction, rare) An extremely strong kick, performed with proficiency, which differs from the common wrestling variation.


superkick

en-verb

superkick (third-person singular simple present superkicks, present participle superkicking, simple past and past participle superkicked)

superkicks (present singular third-person)
superkicking (participle present)
superkicked (participle past)
superkicked (past)

(professional wrestling) to perform a superkick


Cheshire cat

the Cheshire cat (canonical)
Cheshire cats (plural)

/ˌtʃɛʃə ˈkat/

/ˌtʃɛʃɚ ˈkæt/

Term attested since at least the 1780s in the expression grin like a Cheshire cat. The reason why Cheshire was combined with cat is disputed: see here for more information.

CHESHIRE CAT. He grins like a Cheshire cat; said of any one who shows his teeth and gums in laughing.

1788, Francis Grose, A classical dictionary of the vulgar tongue, 2nd corrected and enlarged edition, London:

“Please would you tell me,” said Alice, a little timidly, for she was not quite sure whether it was good manners for her to speak first, “why your cat grins like that?” “It’s a Cheshire-Cat,” said the Duchess, “and that’s why.”

1865, Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:

‘It’s almost as if we’ve gone silly with happiness,’ said Marcus two days later. ‘Everyone in the house going round grinning like a lot of Cheshire Cats! The family I mean.’ ‘And Jess,’ said Kitto quickly. ‘Oh well, Jess is as good as family,’ said Fanny comfortably. Jessamy said nothing, but she looked up quickly and her smile would have rivalled any Cheshire Cat.

1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 127:

A fictional cat with a broad fixed grin, made popular by Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865).


Jediism

A minor modern religion based on the Jedi of the Star Wars series.


Eeveelution

(fandom slang) Any Pokémon that is an evolution of Eevee, either official or made up by fans.


Simpsonian

en-adj

Simpsonian (comparative more Simpsonian, superlative most Simpsonian)

more Simpsonian (comparative)
most Simpsonian (superlative)

Of or relating to George Gaylord Simpson (1902–1984), US paleontologist.

Of or pertaining to The Simpsons, an American animated sitcom.


Homer Simpsonian

Homer Simpsonian (comparative more Homer Simpsonian, superlative most Homer Simpsonian)

more Homer Simpsonian (comparative)
most Homer Simpsonian (superlative)

From Homer Simpson (name of a character in The Simpsons, an animated TV serial) + -ian.

Of or pertaining to the vocalizations or behavior of Homer Simpson.


Pokémaniac

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

Blend of Pokémon + maniac. Derived from "POKéMANIAC", the name of a class of opponent characters in-game. The characters are nowadays seen donning cosplay pieces resembling the Pokémon creatures (though originally wearing lab coats and portrayed as being somewhat lunatic). "POKéMANIAC" was the term used in the English translation for the aforementioned, originally called 「かいじゅうマニア」 [kaijuumania] ("monster maniac") in Japanese. Equivalent to Poké- + maniac.

A dedicated or obsessive fan of Pokémon.


Mickey Mousing

From Mickey Mouse + -ing, in reference to early Walt Disney films, where the music served to mimic the animated motions of the characters.

(animation) Synchronization of actions on screen with the accompanying music.


Novikov self-consistency principle

Developed by Russian physicist Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov in the mid-1980s.

(physics) A conjecture asserting that it is impossible to create paradoxes by time travel because the past cannot be changed.


Potterverse

From Potter + -verse. Named after fictional character Harry Potter, the main character of the original property created by J.K. Rowling.

(fandom slang) The setting of the Harry Potter series.

(fandom slang) The Harry Potter and related and spin-off media franchise. Officially, this is known as the "Wizarding World".


Potterian

Potterian (comparative more Potterian, superlative most Potterian)

more Potterian (comparative)
most Potterian (superlative)

Of or pertaining to J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of fantasy novels, depicting a secret society of people able to perform magic.


Pokédollar

From Poké- + dollar, coined by fans to describe an alternative symbol for yen that first appears on the games Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue, from 1996.

(Pokémon) A unit of currency that is usually described as having characteristics of yen and/or dollar. Its symbol is .


eevolution

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Eevolution.


Iblis

From Arabic إِبْلِيس (ʔiblīs, “Iblis”), possibly from the trilateral root ب ل س (b l s) with the general meaning of “despair”, بَلَسَ (balasa). Alternatively, perhaps from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos).

beyond these mountains, Eblis and his accursed Dives hold their infernal empire.

1786, William Beckford, Vathek; an Arabian Tale:

I do believe that Eblis hath
A snare in ev’ry human path —

1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:


reset button

But after a year of sagging ratings, Dallas hit the reset button, by having Pam wake up to see Bobby, very much alive, lathering up in their shower. The entire 1985–86 season, including Bobby's death, had been a bad dream of Pam's, and now that she was awake, Dallas could go on the way it should have, with the previous year's events effectively wiped away.

2016, David Bianculli, The Platinum Age of Television […] , Anchor, →ISBN, page 140:

Voyager the show ambles and meanders just like Voyager the ship, hypothetically exploring new territory but actually doomed to retreads and consequence-free episodic storytelling (heavy on what fans came to call “the Reset Button” that restores the status quo), exacerbated by overuse of technobabble.

2020, Murray Leeder, “Confessions of an Anti-Fan”, in Robert L. Lively, editor, Exploring Star Trek: Voyager: Critical Essays, McFarland, →ISBN, page 250:

(fiction) A plot device that interrupts continuity in works of fiction, by returning characters and situations to the status quo they held before certain changes were introduced.


Sarlacc

From the Star Wars film Return of the Jedi (1983).

A fictional multi-tentacled beast known to dissolve its prey slowly, buried in a depression in the desert sands of the planet Tatooine.


movieland

The fictitious world where films are set.


storyland

Thanks also go to my husband for his tireless support—for reading early drafts, brainstorming, and proofreading, and for making sure we have food, clean dishes, and, most important, cat food whenever I'm lost in storyland.

The fictitious world where stories are set.


Rocketshipper

From rocket + shipper (after the characters' team, Team Rocket, and punningly on rocketship).

Those of you who have read my fanfics will know that I am a Rocketshipper.

2000 January 13, Blue-Jackal and her box-o-Skywarp [username], “Jessie and James, an item?”, in alt.fan.team-rocket (Usenet):

All the Rocketshippers love to talk about evidence in favor of Jessie/James being in love and such.

2000 February 7, BBD127 [username], “Rocketshipping... negative evidence?”, in alt.fan.team-rocket (Usenet):

You realize, of course, that this thread would probably get us lynched by the large Rocketshipper population on the net.

2001 January 15, Bodger [username], “Re: Gay couple in Godzilla vs. Megalon”, in rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc (Usenet):

(fandom slang) A shipper of Jessie and James, characters in the animated version of Pokémon.


Yoda

The character was introduced in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Perhaps from Sanskrit योद्धा (yoddhā, “warrior”).

A wise old Jedi Master in the Star Wars films.


Jedi Knight

A powerful rank of Jedi below that of Jedi Master.


miles gloriosus

en-noun

miles gloriosus (plural milites gloriosi)

Borrowed from Latin mīles (“soldier”) + glōriōsus (“glorious”).

[I]t of course ought not to be said that the General who assumes the responsibility behaved "generously" on one occasion and "magnanimously" upon another. About such expressions there is a reminiscence of the classical "Miles gloriosus" of the British Nelson, or of the American Winfield Scott.

1898 September 8, “The Army against the War Department”, in New York Times, retrieved 2010-12-04:

He placed Falstaff in the tradition of the miles gloriosus, the type of rascally braggart soldier borrowed from Roman comedy.

1932, John W. Draper, “Sir John Falstaff”, in The Review of English Studies, volume 8, number 32, page 414:

It is possible, then, to read the text of 1 Henry IV as exploiting Hotspur's contradictions for maximum effect, producing a figure who is neither tragic hero, comic miles gloriosus, nor historical reenactment but exuberantly all three at once.

2003, Roberta Barker, “Tragical-Comical-Historical Hotspur”, in Shakespeare Quarterly, volume 54, number 3, page 303:

(literary, performing arts) A standard character in ancient comedy and in modern comedy depicting ancient military figures: the bravado-filled, self-important, swaggering soldier.


gameverse

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(fandom slang) A universe depicted in one or more video games.


Pikachu

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(video games, anime, manga) A small yellow rodent-like Pokémon species that has red cheeks and a tail shaped like a lightning bolt, and has electricity-related powers.


bioneer

Blend of biological + pioneer or biological + engineer, possibly coined by Kenny Ausubel.

Beneath the coat, a metal frame of gears and levers and wheels: living bone, tendon, sinew holding it together. A bioneer’s wet dream.

2002, Trent Jamieson, Garry Nurrish, Redsine, 7, →ISBN, page 13:

(chiefly science fiction) A biological engineer, an engineer of creatures, especially partially artificial/mechanical ones.


bioneer

en-verb

bioneer (third-person singular simple present bioneers, present participle bioneering, simple past and past participle bioneered)

bioneers (present singular third-person)
bioneering (participle present)
bioneered (participle past)
bioneered (past)

Lost beneath her abundant flesh was a vestigial skeleton which floated disconnected and unmoving in a gelatinous sea. Her bioneered organs were swollen to immense proportions and hundreds of liters of blood pumped through her extensive circulatory system.

1975, Thomas F. Monteleone, edited by Roger Elwood, Dystopian visions, page 3:

Devon scowled. "This is clever bioneering. A muttie that dies before it lives."

2002, Trent Jamieson, Garry Nurrish, Redsine, 7, →ISBN, page 11:

[…] an open space that would not have been possible a millennium earlier, before the development of sophisticated bioneering.

2002, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., The Octagonal Raven, →ISBN, page 90:

The cows were bioneered
so urbs could have fresh milk, laced
with graces — vitamins and serums conveyed in compact, pet-like packages. Even their shit is boutiqued. It falls in uniform pellets and smells like Zen.

2007, Peter Jay Shippy, How to build the ghost in your attic: a book-length poem, page 21:

(chiefly science fiction) To engineer biologically.


Callistan

(science fiction) An inhabitant of Callisto.


Das Reich

(historical and pseudohistorical fiction) The Third Reich.


shoulder devil

Coordinate term: shoulder angel

A devil representing a person's temptations in works of fiction, portrayed as sitting on one shoulder while a shoulder angel occupies the other.


shoulder angel

An angel representing a person's conscience in works of fiction, portrayed as sitting on one shoulder while a shoulder devil occupies the other.


Ebenezer Scrooge

en-noun

Ebenezer Scrooge (plural Ebenezer Scrooges)

After the character in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.


Romeo and Juliet

From a tragedy, written by Shakespeare, about two young lovers named Romeo and Juliet whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families.

Unlike cynical you, however, I do believe a Romeo and Juliet love is possible.

1996, Katherine Stone, Rainbows, page 73:

We all married—well, most of us married—for love, for some version of Sinatra and Casablanca love, for a love that would light up our lives and cast out fear, for a Romeo and Juliet love (except with a better ending), for a love that the poet John Donne once wrote "makes one little room an everywhere."

2008, Judith Viorst, Grown-Up Marriage: What We Know, Wish We Had Known, and Still Need to Know, page 6:

A pair of lovers, particularly if they are young, visibly enamored, and come from families or groups that are on opposing sides of a dispute.


Hansel and Gretel

A German fairy tale, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812, about the siblings named Hansel and Gretel who are threatened by a cannibalistic witch who lives in a house made of cake and bread.

糖果屋 (tángguǒ wū, literally “candy house”)


Big Bad Wolf

An evil fictional wolf that appears in fairy tales or fables.

(figuratively) Someone blamed for causing problems; a scapegoat.


Jacob Marley

A fictional man who appears as a ghost in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, warning his former business partner Ebenezer Scrooge against being greedy and selfish.


title character

title character (plural title characters)

A fictional character whose name or a short description is present in the title of the work where the character appears.


Ghost of Christmas Past

A fictional ghost in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, who visits Ebenezer Scrooge in order to show him his past, especially certain events of past Christmases that contributed to his later distaste for Christmas.


Ghost of Christmas Present

the Ghost of Christmas Present (canonical)

A fictional ghost in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, who visits Ebenezer Scrooge accompanied by a great feast in order to show him events of the current Christmas.

duch teraźniejszych świąt Bożego Narodzenia


Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (canonical)

A fictional ghost in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; it visits Ebenezer Scrooge in order to show his impending fate of death and loneliness in a future Christmas that is ultimately avoided.


Ghost of Christmas Future

the Ghost of Christmas Future (canonical)

The character first appeared in the book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, written in 1843, and called Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The name Ghost of Christmas Future was coined by analogy with Ghost of Christmas Past and Ghost of Christmas Present.

Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come#English

Synonym of Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come


animesque

en-adj

animesque (comparative more animesque, superlative most animesque)

more animesque (comparative)
most animesque (superlative)

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Whilst it doesn't include anything specifically anime, there are a variety of animesque elements to the event and I'm sure some of you will find something of interest there...

2002, Happosai, “[Event] Jam:Tokyo-London”, in uk.media.animation.anime (Usenet):

His blush increasing to truly animesque proportions, the younger conjoined mutant/immortal scuffs one toe against the floor...

2003, skyefire, “AAE 8: Catch-up and wrap-up”, in alt.callahans (Usenet):

Resembling or with aspects characteristic of anime.


light novel

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Calque of Japanese ライトノベル (raito noberu, ultimately from English light + novel).

calque

A Japanese novel primarily targeting young adults, typically illustrated (in an anime/manga style) and containing not more than 50,000 words.


tsundere

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Borrowed from Japanese ツンデレ (tsundere), from つんつん (tsun-tsun, “in a cross, aloof, or standoffish manner”, adverb) + でれでれ (dere-dere, “in a lovey-dovey, infatuated, or lovestruck manner”, adverb).

I usually draw very peaceful, happy manga, so it has been a real challenge for me to illustrate the vice president's death glare and Ri-chan's subtle tsundere attitude.

2008, Kio Shimoku, Kujibiki Unbalance 1, Del Rey/Ballantine Books, →ISBN, unnumbered page:

Even Kaname's rude and overbearing tsundere personality is explained by her having gone to school in the United States where she was socialized to just bluntly say what she thought.

2010 August 14, David Johnston, “Full Metal Panic: One Night Stand”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

Despite his apparent power, the boy behaves with uncharacteristic meekness toward the formidable tsundere Misato Tachibana, whose grotesquely distorted romantic feelings for Koujirou almost invariably result in her shooting him all over the school with heavy weaponry (which seems to spring out of nowhere).

2012, Dani Cavallaro, Kyoto Animation: A Critical Study and Filmography, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 157:

(chiefly Japanese fiction) A fictional character who fits the archetype of being cold or even hostile towards another person before gradually showing a warm and caring side.

تْسُونْدِرِي

character who fits the archetype of being cold or hostile before gradually showing a warm and caring side


eroge

Borrowed from Japanese エロゲー (erogē), a portmanteau of エロチックゲーム (erochikku gēmu), from English erotic game.


WAFF

en-noun

WAFF (countable and uncountable, plural WAFFs)

Acronym of warm and fuzzy feeling(s). Reportedly coined by fans of the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993-1997). First attested on alt.tv.lois-n-clark as part of a fandom glossary in January 1996.

Why wait until the series is close to an end to change their relationship, leaving fans with a feeling of having been cheated of great WAFFs (Warm And Fuzzy Feelings)?

1996 January 7, Nancy Lemieux, “Re: The girlfriend/boyfriend thing”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

Sharon remembers the WAFFs, the romance, the cuddling, the tender bits, the honesty and openness between our heroes and gives the episode an A+.

1996 March 18, Colonel X, “Re: Camping With Clark”, in alt.tv.lois-n-clark (Usenet):

I did love Dad Kent's response to her, beginning with "Dearest Lois, a love... [I've forgotten the rest, but it was a major WAFF for me :-)]

1996 May 14, Polly Robinson, “Re: Clark's disappearance”, in alt.tv.lois-n-clark (Usenet):

(countable, fandom slang) A warm and fuzzy feeling, especially in relation to a ship.

Any idiot would have to know that 99% of the fans expect the relationship to progress, but Singer's answer just doesn't give fans that WAFF that they may need after feeling so betrayed by the current arc.

1996 March 6, KalElFan, “Damage Control at TPTB Central”, in alt.tv.lois-n-clark (Usenet):

Well, I can now see why ABC did not hop on the boards here to try and quell the disquiet the 'wedding' arc caused. A) because there is no wedding in the arc, and B) The episode isn't quite the WAFF one might expect.

1996 March 16, Zoomway, “Updated Spoilers on OW”, in alt.tv.lois-n-clark (Usenet):

It's a pity that this term isn't used on atxc, as I'd describe this as a lovely slice of Moose & Squirrel WAFF (stands for warm-and-fuzzy-feelings).

1999 July 14, Harper, “Re: xfc NEW: When God Dreams, 3 of 3. by Snark, rated PG”, in alt.tv.x-files.creative (Usenet):

(uncountable, fandom slang) Such feelings collectively.


crack fic

crack fic (countable and uncountable, plural crack fics)

Referring to the erratic behaviour of a person on crack cocaine.

(countable, fandom slang) A work of fan fiction that is absurd, surprising or ridiculous, often intentionally.

(uncountable, fandom slang) Such fan fiction collectively.


deathfic

deathfic (countable and uncountable, plural deathfics)

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(countable, fandom slang) A work of fan fiction centered around the death of a character.


Tiny Tim

The crutches on the bottom look like the Tiny Tim model, while the top sports stainless steel walkers and canes and a few crutches that look like they are made from the same stuff as fancy tennis rackets and golf clubs.

2006, Brendan Halpin, Long Way Back, Random House, published 2008, →ISBN, page 67:

A poor disabled boy whose death is ultimately averted by Ebenezer Scrooge in the classic tale A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

(historical, military, countable) A United States rocket, used in World War II and the Korean War.


MIB

MIB (countable and uncountable, plural MIBs)

(US, ufology, conspiracy theorists) Initialism of man in black.

(US, in the plural) Initialism of men in black.

Initialism of man in black.
Initialism of men in black.


UD

Just wondering what server everybody plays on? I have a 60 human warrior on Blackrock and 60 UD priest on Shadowmoon.

2005, Mr Stephen Feeney, “What server are you on?”, in alt.games.warcraft (Usenet):

(fantasy roleplaying games) Abbreviation of undead.


antag

(informal, fiction, writing) Clipping of antagonist.


GINO

From the construction of RINO and DINO, using -INO in conjunction with "G" for Galactica.

(neologism, fandom slang) Acronym of Galactica in name only—a derogatory term used by partisan fans of the original Battlestar Galactica to refer to the reimagined Battlestar Galactica


HAL

artificial intelligence
artificial intelligence

(fiction, computing) A homicidal computer, an artificial intelligence that acts similarly to the HAL 9000 featured in 2001: A Space Odyssey.


necrocracy

necrocracy (countable and uncountable, plural necrocracies)

From necro- (“dead”) + -cracy (“power, rule”).

confix

(fantasy, science fiction) A government ruled by the undead.


Saci

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese saci, from Old Tupi sa'si.

(folklore) A black, one-legged, prankster youngster in Brazilian folklore, who smokes a pipe and wears a magical red hat that enables him to disappear.


Cuca

An evil old hag in Brazilian folklore, said to attack children who don't go to bed early.


Alice band

From Lewis Carroll's fictional Alice, often depicted wearing the headband in Through the Looking-Glass.


dropship

I'm sending down five more dropships, combat EMVs, and a thopter gunship.

1997 September 13, Dan Simmons, The Rise of Endymion, New York: Bantam, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 363:

IFF confirmed. Contact is Pelican Dropship Kilo 23. Over.

2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Sierra 117:

(science fiction) A flying transport that drops troops or equipment onto a planet, etc.


Mickey Mouse Protection Act

the Mickey Mouse Protection Act (canonical)

So called because it served to prevent Disney's Mickey Mouse character from entering the public domain for a further period.

(informal, derogatory) The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act.


pikachurin

Named after Pikachu, a Pokémon character, + -in.

(biochemistry) A dystroglycan-interacting polysaccharide which has an essential role in the precise interactions between the photoreceptor ribbon synapse and the bipolar dendrites.


Bluto

Fictional character name for the antagonist of Popeye coined in 1932 by cartoonist Elzie Crisler Segar.

He was built like Bluto. "Who the hell are you?" he said.

1986, Lee K. Abbott, Strangers in paradise, page 38:

For whatever reason, it'd taken her a little while to get out of the cab when they first got here, and when Chuck introduced me — she stood a full foot shorter than him, a tiny woman next to this Bluto of a man, a knitted green afghan over her shoulders, a white blouse and blue jeans.

2008, Bret Lott, Ancient Highway: A Novel, page 152:

His pit bull parts thinned out his back end but gave him a Bluto disproportion in his front end.

2010, Susan Wilson, One Good Dog, page 21:

It wasn't the black loudmouth I'd expected but a Bluto of a man almost filling the entire doorway.

2011, Shaun Attwood, chapter 25, in Hard Time: Life with Sheriff Joe Arpaio in America's Toughest Jail:

The customers sometimes called him Bluto. He earned the nickname by his tremendous build and great strength.

2015, Maryann Bouco, chapter 4, in The Last Stand:

A man who is large and muscular in top-heavy proportions, often combined with a comically brutish and aggressive personality.


private investigator

en-noun

private investigator (plural private investigators)

An agent hired by a private party for the purpose of investigation or evidence gathering.


suicide booth

(fiction) A booth that contains equipment to kill a user who wants to commit suicide, often automatically.


Speedy Gonzales

After a fast-running animated mouse in Warner Bros. cartoons.

(idiomatic, informal) A fast person; someone who does something very quickly.


handwavium

From hand waving + -ium (“the chemical element suffix”).

af

My handwavium was an invented mineral, but - reading up - what about platinum? Could I substitute platinum for handwavium?

2008 February 3, Jacey Bedford <jacey@artisan-harmony.com>, “Handwavium”, in rec.arts.sf.composition (Usenet):

It made no sense to him that their very impossibility was their pleasure. He puzzled over the spacecraft and their handwavium drives. "The thousand and one nights of Scheherazade, told by an engineering student who failed his graduation exams," was his literary judgment.

2008 March, Alexander Jablokov, “The Boarder”, in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, volume 114, number 3, Concord, N.H.: Fantasy House, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9:

She writes romantic fantasy and science fiction, and makes liberal use of the substance known as handwavium.

2012, Imogen Howson, Blood of the Volcano, Cincinnati, Oh.: Samhain Publishing, →ISBN, page 167:

(informal, fiction) Any hypothetical but unobtainable material with desirable engineering properties.


Don Quixote

Borrowed from Spanish Don Quixote, the older spelling of modern Spanish Don Quijote.

A famous 1605–1615 Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), whose full title is El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha (The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha).

Don Kishoti

the protagonist of a famous Spanish novel

ഡോൺ ക്വിൿസോട്ട്

ḍōṇ kviksōṭṭŭ


Don Quixote

But he was a born leader. As danger thickened his jaunty manner would increase, his speech become more racy, his cold eyes glitter into ardent life, and his Don Quixote moustache bristle with joyous excitement.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

[…] while joint libraries are wonderful endeavors, which may or may not be a part of our future, they also represent the best of human cooperation for the greater good. This book is dedicated to these Don Quixotes of the library world.

2012, Claire B. Gunnels, Susan E. Green, Patricia M. Butler, Joint Libraries: Models That Work, page 161:

(also attributive) Any person or character who displays quixotism.


Betty Boop

A feminist she is not, and we see her with many a Betty Boop look of horror as her two loutish pals make matchsticks out of every piece of barroom furniture in sight.

1997, David Howard Day, A Treasure Hard to Attain: Images of Archaeology in Popular Film, page 89:

He sits astride a motorcycle and fingers the hem of a bright red dress worn by a pert, blonde, cherry-lipped model. Her mouth is open in a Betty Boop "ooh."

2002, Catherine Orenstein, Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale, page 192:

She had straight black hair with a Betty Boop bob cut and ruby red sweetheart lips.

2005, Stephanie Lehmann, Are You in the Mood?, page 188:

Betty: Shall we? (Her voice has now assumed a Betty Boop pitch.)

2007, James Fitzgerald, The Joys of Smoking Cigarettes, page 22:

Thirty years old when the song came out, Lauper was playacting at being a girl — and the ultimate girl, at that — with her Betty Boop voice and crazy dress-up outfits.

2010, Marisa Meltzer, Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music, page 75:

A fictional female entertainer introduced in cartoons in the 1930s, characterized by a high-pitched singing and speaking voice, short and curly black hair, and sexually provocative clothing, mannerisms, and facial expressions.


big red button

A real, fictional, or figurative button that controls a function of critical importance and that is usually large and red, ensuring quick identification.


scream queen

Her [Janet Leigh's] "scream queen" status also led to cameo roles in Jamie Lee Curtis' 1998 horror sequel Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and A Fate Totally Worse than Death in 2000.

2004 October 4, “Psycho actress Janet Leigh dies”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2016-08-02:

What makes a good scream queen? Lloyd Kaufman, whose Troma Films has distributed more than 1,000 horror films since the mid-'70s, says, "It's more than just crying and having ketchup thrown on you. You not only have to be attractive, but you also have to have a big brain. You have to be frightened, you have to be sad, you have to be romantic."

2007 April 27, Thomas K. Arnold, “Three screams for these stars”, in USA Today, archived from the original on 2016-03-04:

In short order, Friday the 13th (the first widely distributed major studio slasher flick), Terror Train and Prom Night – the latter two starring uber-scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis […]– led the charge into cinemas. With the formula nailed down – masked killer stalks and slays teenagers on a particular holiday or special event – everyone and their cousin could assemble their own cheapie horror flick and as a result, quality slumped as quantity multiplied.

2017 May 11, Peter Schorn, “Going To Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film: The slasher film dissected in this documentary retrospective [review]”, in IGN, archived from the original on 2016-09-15:

Confessions of a Scream Queen by Matt Beckoff (BearManor Media) is a series of interviews with actresses associated with horror films (using a very loose definition of the term "scream queen").

2011, “Nonfiction Books”, in Ellen Datlow, editor, The Best Horror of the Year, volume III, San Francisco, Calif.: Night Shade Books, →ISBN:

In this unique gallery of “Scream Queens,” you'll discover sixteen actresses who starred in bloodcurdling movies and TV shows […] The original Scream Queens were actresses in precarious, life-threatening situations—exemplified by the scene in King Kong in which the monstrous Kong "holds" [Fay] Wray in his hand while terrorizing Manhattan.

2015, Tim Foley, Scream Queens Paper Dolls, Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, →ISBN:

(informal) An actress who appears in several horror films.

кралица на ужаса

actress who appears in several horror movies


Rin Tin Tin

From the name of a good-luck charm that French children often gave to American soldiers.

A name given to several related fictional German Shepherd dogs, particularly from the 1920s and the 1930s.


Rin-Tin-Tin

Alternative spelling of Rin Tin Tin (“the name given to certain fictional dogs”)


Scooby-Doo

Frank Sinatra
Scooby-Doo
Strangers in the Night

Uncertain. scooby doo appears as a vocable scatted in "The Boppenpoof Song" written in 1954, as the name of a band (The Scooby-Doo All-Stars) in 1956 and the title of a song by the Jerry Lieber Beat Band published by Zephyr Records in 1959 (both of which were signed to Zephyr Records). It is likely that such uses were an influence on the creators of the cartoon but they may also have been partially influenced by Frank Sinatra's "doo-be-doo-be-doo" improvisation in "Strangers in the Night" released in 1963 a few months prior to the first episode of Scooby-Doo being shown (also in 1963).

I knew I had to be very careful when I was crafting the story, so that it wouldn't be a Scooby Doo moment—you know, the one where the villain rips off his mask and tells you why he did it—and that he would have gotten away with it, if not for those pesky kids!

2007, Jodi Picoult, "Reader's Companion" (Washington Square Press) to the author's Plain Truth (Simon and Schuster, 2000) p.414

A mile out of town, off the Combe Martin road, discover a real Scooby Doo experience at Chambercombe Manor. It's shrouded in ghost stories and has starred in TV shows about the paranormal.

2008, Simon Heptinstall, Devon (Crimson Publishing) page 137

It was a Scooby-Doo moment: everybody looks down, everybody looks up. Maddy looks surprised. Pat looks guilty. Oh, those meddlesome kids.

2010, J. Wachowski, In Plain View, Carina Press, page 314:

"I love the Scooby-Doo of it all." And it was fun, combing through old books and papers for recognizable names.

2010, Buzzy Jackson, Shaking the Family Tree: Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Accidental Genealogist, Simon and Schuster, page 171:

An American cartoon franchise, named for one of the main characters, a large dog, and featuring as protagonists four "meddling" teenagers who unravel seemingly supernatural mysteries.


Goofy

A Disney character: a slow-witted anthropomorphic dog with a goofy laugh.


meido

From Japanese メイド (meido, “maid, maidservant”), from English maid.

uder

I was really struck by how many of the bishoujo cliches it managed to bring up. We already have the older sister, younger sister, childhood friend, and exotic transfer student. We have a genki girl, a ditzy girl, a hime-sama, and a meido.

2006 October 13, Abraham Evangelista, “Re: Crescent Love - dull new anime”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

And then there’s Roberta, who seems like a typical meido (maid) character until she pulls out machine guns from her lacy uniform!

2008 October 12, Kitty Sensei, “Playing pirate”, in Malaysia Star:

Although this is a manga about maids, don’t expect to see the submissive and fawning maids of the meido category. The protagonist here is a faithful, skilled and courteous maid from the old English society.

2008, Memedi, "Loyal helper", Malaysia Star, 9 November 2008

(chiefly Japanese fiction) A female fictional character who is employed as a maid, typically wearing a stylized French maid outfit.

Actually, the two times I was there, it was really quite dull in terms of the people wandering around. The most excitement I saw was that one candidate for Prime Minister giving a van-top speech in front of Akihabara station. Oh, and a demonstration of some RC "Tokyo Drift" toy cars out on the street. No dancing in the streets, only a very few meido (some of questionable gender >__< ), and quite a few gaikokujin.

2008 February 9, Captain Nerd [username], “Re: "Alien Jones" - "Boss" coffee ads”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

These meido attract customers by role-playing the part of a maid, complete with French maid-inspired outfits that are long on fantasy elements and typically short on skirt length.

2009, John Graham-Cumming, The Geek Atlas: 128 Places Where Science and Technology Come Alive, O'Reilly Media, published 2009, →ISBN, page 104:

"I like having conversations with different meidos," he explains, "but Haruki is my favourite because she's friendliest to me."
[…]
Utena, a meido with pink hair and red plastic horns, recently celebrated her fourth year at Maidolce.

2012 April 1, Dave Tacon, “Dusting off a geek fetish for all things maid in Japan”, in Sydney Morning Herald:


Care Bear

Brand name. The characters were introduced in 1981 for use on greeting cards and turned into plush toys in 1983.

The baby or toddler who goes to sleep alone (with a Care Bear, with his favorite blanket, or by sucking his thumb) learns valuable self-quieting behaviors that can be used for many years to come.

1994, Edward R. Christophersen, Pediatric Compliance: A Guide for the Primary Care Physician, page 171:

But the domestic turkey is about as remote from the wild animal as a Care Bear is from a grizzly.

2004, Jerry Sullivan, Hunting for Frogs on Elston, and Other Tales from Field & Street, page 68:

One of my real aspirations of this is I wanna see interstellar wars between Care Bears and Klingons.

2007 March 13, Will Wright, keynote, South by Southwest, Austin

Any of a brand of cheerful bear figures, seen on greeting cards and as stuffed toys.

He was smart, tough, witty yet gentle all at the same time. He was my care bear.

2004, Jordyn Tate, Unforgivable Misconception, page 15:

"Man, you are beautiful, my Care Bear", he said in awe.

2013, D. Antoinette, The First Book of Carrie, page 121:


killbot

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

(especially science fiction) A robot designed to kill; a robotic assassin.


ringmail

en-noun

ringmail (usually uncountable, plural ringmails)

(now chiefly fantasy) A type of personal armour constructed as series of metallic rings sewn to a fabric or leather foundation, assumed by the Victorians to have been used in the Middle Ages, but now generally thought not to have existed historically.


tricky slave

A fictional character who fits into the archetype of being lower-class, being more clever than the other characters, and helping the protagonists.


NTR

(historical) Initialism of National Transcontinental Railway.


NTR

Coordinate term: NTP

nuclear-thermal rocket
nuclear-thermal rocket#English

(astronautics) Initialism of nuclear-thermal rocket.


NTR

Borrowed from Japanese NTR(エヌティーアール) (enutīāru).

(pornography, slang) Initialism of netorare.


NTR

en-verb

NTR (third-person singular simple present NTRs, present participle NTRing, simple past and past participle NTRed)

NTRs (present singular third-person)
NTRing (participle present)
NTRed (participle past)
NTRed (past)


grandfather paradox

en-noun

grandfather paradox (plural grandfather paradoxes)

From the paradox proposed by the French author René Barjavel in 1944 in his book Le Voyageur Imprudent, translated into English as "Future Times Three"; in its original form the paradox of one person going back to the past and killing their biological grandfather before the latter fathered the traveler's father, thus preventing the time traveler from ever being conceived in the first place.

The paradox of time travel in which inconsistencies emerge through changing the past.

Future Times Three
René Barjavel
grandfather paradox


closed time loop

closed time loop (plural closed time loops)

(science fiction) A chain of events in which someone or something time travels to the past as a means to fulfill their role in the history exactly as it already happened, thus implying impossibility to change the past.


bootstrap paradox

bootstrap paradox (plural bootstrap paradoxes)

Compare bootstrap, pull oneself up by one's bootstraps, etc.

A time travel paradox in which the consequences of an event in the future travel back in time and cause an event in the past or present, which in turn is among the causes of the first event, forming a causal loop in which each event is caused by the other.


closed timelike curve

closed timelike curve (plural closed timelike curves)

(physics) A worldline that returns to its starting point.


Roman ring

closed timelike curve
closed timelike curve

A configuration of wormholes where for each individual wormhole the time difference across its mouths is such that it may not allow a closed timelike curve.


Tipler cylinder

Tipler cylinder (plural Tipler cylinders)

Named after American physicist Frank J. Tipler, who recognized the possibility of such a device in 1974.

A hypothetical massive, infinitely long cylinder spinning along its longitudinal axis, enabling time travel.


chronovisor

A hypothetical machine that is able to see past and future events.

kronovizor

machine able to see past and future events


autoinfanticide

For consider the most lurid implication of Gödel's idea – autoinfanticide.

2015, Roger Highfield, Peter Coveney, The Arrow of Time:

The inventor of a time machine about to commit autoinfanticide in the past

2016, Paul J. Nahin, Time Machine Tales, page 212:

(science fiction) The act of traveling back in time to the past and killing oneself as a baby.


Mickey Mouse glove

Mickey Mouse glove (plural Mickey Mouse gloves)

Worn by the animated character Mickey Mouse.

A glove that is white and usually four-fingered.


Mickey Mouse cap

Mickey Mouse cap (plural Mickey Mouse caps)

A black cap with two round appendages that imitate the ears of Mickey Mouse.


Mickey Mouse hat

Mickey Mouse hat (plural Mickey Mouse hats)

Mickey Mouse cap
Mickey Mouse cap#English


pseudo anime

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

An animated work that has many typical characteristics of Japanese animation but is not from Japan.


magic user

(fantasy) One who uses (or has skill with) magic.


Queen of Hearts

Queen of Hearts (plural Queens of Hearts)

At eighteen she was the Queen of Hearts and conscious of the fact: an exacting, dictatorial, haughty woman...

Extravagantly pretty, with a delicate figure and great dark-blue eyes, cordial, charming and a winning hostess, she was the Queen of Hearts in Weimar...

1956, Eliza Marian Butler, Byron and Goethe:

A woman who has gained the adoration of the public.


spiritual sequel

spiritual sequel (plural spiritual sequels)

A successor to a work of fiction which does not directly build upon the storyline established by a previous work as do most traditional prequels or sequels, but nevertheless features many of the same elements, themes, and styles as its source material.


Tolkienite

A person who has an extended knowledge and is also a fan of the works and fantasy world (Middle-Earth) of J. R. R. Tolkien; used especially when referring to a fan of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.


visual novel

Calque of Japanese ビジュアルノベル (bijuaru noberu), from English visual + novel

cal

(video games) An interactive fiction video game of a style originated in Japan, consisting primarily of narration illustrated by anime-style images.


Alice in Wonderland

en-adj

Alice in Wonderland (comparative more Alice in Wonderland, superlative most Alice in Wonderland)

more Alice in Wonderland (comparative)
most Alice in Wonderland (superlative)

Derived from the children's fantasy story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

It is an Alice in Wonderland question. Let me answer it this way: To design a car, you must — emphasize must — have restrictions to guide you.

1978 Apr, Popular Mechanics, volume 149, number 4, page 204:

The law-making affair often has an Alice in Wonderland touch. Terms are defined by law, and if the law says black is white, then for the purpose of the law, black is white.

IBM's current system and network management story has an Alice in Wonderland touch to it, with incongruity as the prevailing theme. Just as it is in Wonderland, most things in IBM's management story are not what they appear to be.

1992 September 7, Network World, volume 9, number 36, page 37:

What makes this debate an Alice in Wonderland debate is that the people who support this bill are the very people who will benefit from taking the American people out of the debate by limiting the ability of people to put up their time.

2001, Phil Gramm, Congressional Record-Senate, March 29, 2001, page 5053:

It became more Alice in Wonderland all the time: was I now to navigate as well?

2002, Alan Stripp, Codebreaker in the Far East, page 35:

This is all a little more Alice in Wonderland than I had expected.

2008, Lisa Margonelli, Oil on the Brain: Petroleum's Long, Strange Trip to Your Tank, page 68:

Herzog further noted that the United Nations developed an Alice in Wonderland perspective on Israel.

2012, Danny Danon, Israel: The Will to Prevail, page 69:

Tautology is not a problem in an Alice in Wonderland world in which a junior official can be said to coordinate the work of the Secretary of State.

2014, L. Pope, The Demilitarization of American Diplomacy:

As in a surreal fairy tale where things work at odds to the way they do in the real world.


Alice in Wonderland

en-noun

Alice in Wonderland (plural Alices in Wonderland or Alice in Wonderlands)

Alices in Wonderland (plural)
Alice in Wonderlands (plural)

After three years of meeting in a tiny room in the student center, we were stunned that we could all get in one room and move around without stepping on each other. It wasn't crowded; and besides that, it was beautiful. We felt like 50 Alices in Wonderland.

1965, Alpha Omicron Pi, To Dragma - Volume 56, Issue 11, page 24:

But I do not live in a riding that represents the Alice in Wonderlands of the world, Mr. Speaker.

1980, Canada. Parliament. House of Commons, House of Commons Debates, Official Report - Volume 3, page 3251:

I'm giddy. I haven't even stopped to notice my surroundings. I'm not much of an Alice in Wonderland.

2014, Jane Peranteau, Jumping: A Novel, page 189:

Brackett views the community rather as might an Alice in Wonderland according to the entries in his diaries, although the same diary entries do not reflect his later claim that he “was assigned to twelve different stories in my first year."

2014, Anthony Slide, It's the Pictures That Got Small, page 4:

An observer of strange, incomprehensible or disorienting situations.


impervium

(science fiction) An impervious substance.


hand axe

From Middle English hand-ax, handax, handex, hond axe, from Old English handæx, from Proto-Germanic *handakwisī; equivalent to hand + axe.

(fantasy, roleplaying games) A hatchet or throwing axe.


Xenaverse

Guess things are different in the Xenaverse. Maybe Ares and the other gods don't like competition?

1998, Greg Cox, Battle On!: An Unauthorized, Irreverent Look at Xena: Warrior Princess, page 88:

The show is an amazing foray into women's expressions of rage — there's a lot of other women in the Xenaverse with a penchant for feats of arms […]

2005, "Doris", quoted in Sue Austin, Women's Aggressive Fantasies: A Post-Jungian Exploration of Self-hatred, Love and Agency, page 22

Gender was not relevant in the Xenaverse. There, a girl or a boy could be a warlord or a farmer, a bard or a sad sack needing protection.

2013 September 9, Jennifer Sky, “My Life as a Warrior Princess”, in The New York Times:

(fandom slang) The fictional universe depicted in the Xena: Warrior Princess series.

Many wonderful people and events have come into our lives from being part of the Xenaverse.

2002, Jo Marriott, Carly Bramwell, “Maid Marion, Meet Xena”, in Nikki Stafford, editor, How Xena Changed Our Lives: True Stories by Fans for Fans, page 72:

The task of mapping the online Xenaverse is, of course, an impossible one. The Xenaverse is too expansive, too unstructured, too fluid and fast moving to be charted; […]

2003, Sara Gwellian-Jones, “Histories, Fictions and Xena: Warrior Princess”, in Will Brooker, Deborah Jermyn, editors, The Audience Studies Reader, page 188:

For instance, when I lived in Italy a couple of years ago, I stumbled across the Italian Xenaverse.

2005, Anik LaChev, "Fan Fiction: A Genre And Its (Final?) Frontiers", Spectator, Volume 25, Number 1, Spring 2005, page 91

(fandom slang) The fandom of Xena: Warrior Princess.


animeverse

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


GoF

(politics) Abbreviation of Gang of Four.


tokusatsu

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

A Japanese genre of film and television drama featuring superheroes and special effects.


dweomercraft

From Middle English dwemercraft, from Middle English dweomercræft (“magic; sorcery”), equivalent to dweomer + -craft.

der

There was an ominous tendency among people who considered themselves "upper class" to dismiss the art he practiced as well as all the other elements of Dweomercraft. It was frightening.

As he always did when confronted by his old teacher in dweomercraft, Salamander felt profoundly guilty, even though this time he'd done nothing wrong.

It used to be known for dweomercraft, the craft of healers, magicians, those who know spells, those who know the sourcery of words.

2008, Jane MacNamee, In Her Element: Women and the Landscape - An Anthology:

(rare, fantasy) Magic; magical arts; jugglery.


Naraka

(Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism) The underworld or Hell according to Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism, where souls are sent for the expiation of their sins.


white magic

Widespread popular tolerance of white magic thus helped to mitigate the rigours of the law.

1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 238:

(idiomatic) Magic derived from good or benign forces, as distinct from evil or malevolent forces; or magic performed with the intention of doing good or giving aid.


cybersuit

The notion of a second skin may still be more seductive in the imagining than the reality, but on the utopian side of the Blade Runner there is the prospect of cybersuits, made possible by petrochemical fabrics.

1999, Herbert Blau, Nothing in itself: complexions of fashion, page 268:

Just as these suits make cybersex possible, they let the physician poke and feel, using cybergloves on one end and the patient's cybersuit responding on the other.

2002, Douglas Mulhall, Our molecular future:

He was looking at a small flexible screen wrapped halfway around his forearm, meshed into the fabric of his cybersuit.

2010, Sam Fisher, E-FORCE: State of Emergency, page 61:

(science fiction) A hypothetical suit of clothing that augments the wearer's capabilities by means of computer technology.


hypersleep

suspended animation
suspended animation#English

(science fiction) A form of suspended animation in which the body's functions are not merely slowed down but halted entirely.


antispinward

en-adv

antispinward (comparative more antispinward, superlative most antispinward)

more antispinward (comparative)
most antispinward (superlative)

To antispinward was the largest mountain men had ever seen.

1970 October, Larry Niven, Ringworld, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 152:

My fathers and mothers tell that we have been moving to antispinward since they were little. They remember that they had to go around a great sea, but they did not come too close, because the beasts would not eat the plants that grow around the shore.

1978, Galileo: Magazine of Science & Fiction, Boston, Mass.: Avenue Victor Hugo Publishers, page 77:

Laura imagined that he would expect them to flee along the beams, and she watched his narrow face searching the impenetrable shadows antispinward of where they hid.

1985, Nancy Kress, Trinity and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.: Bluejay Books, →ISBN, page 214:

Edna's language was peppered with the unfamiliar. You found your way around a spinning space habitat by going spinward or antispinward or axisward ...

2007, Arthur C. Clarke with Stephen Baxter, Firstborn [A Time Odyssey; 3], New York, N.Y.: Del Rey Books; Ballantine Books, →ISBN:

antispinward adv. in or toward the opposite direction that something (a space station, galaxy, etc.) is rotating.

2007, Jeff Prucher, editor, Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 9:

"[…] You would fall against the anti-spinward wall and slide down along that wall until you hit the floor ..." / "Whoa, whoa, whoa ..." Lars interrupted. "Anti-spinward? What in the world?" / "Moving in the same direction as the Station's direction of spin is considered spinward. Moving in the direction opposite the spin is considered anti-spinward. You sound like a boy asking what one does with his hands when the rollercoaster car leaves the track."

2015, Steven Burgauer, Skullcap, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN:

(often science fiction) In a rotating reference frame, against the direction of spin.


Browncoat

From brown + coat, after a kind of soldier in the TV series that wore brown coats as uniforms.

(fandom slang) A fan of the TV series Firefly.


goblinoid

(fantasy) A being having the appearance or characteristics of a goblin.


magic lamp

(Middle Eastern folklore derived works) An oil lamp that can be rubbed in order to summon a genie who grants wishes.


peryton

Coined by the translator Norman Thomas di Giovanni translating Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings, from Borges' invented Spanish peritio. Astrophysical use began with a paper by S. Burke-Spolaor et al. (see quotations).

Despite a trend mimicking that expected from dispersion, such deviations decisively distinguish the pulses’ frequency-dependence from a delay induced by interstellar propagation. Hereafter we distinguish these detections with the name “Perytons,” representing the non-dispersive, highly swept, terrestrial signals exhibited by the pulses. (The name is chosen from mythology to be unassociated with an exact physical phenomenon, due to the ambiguous origin of the detections; Perytons are winged elk that cast the shadow of a man.)

2011 January 20, S. Burke-Spolaor et al., “Radio Bursts with Extragalactic Spectral Characteristics Show Terrestrial Origins”, in The Astrophysical Journal, volume 727, number 1:

Three of these FRBs are factors of >3 narrower than any documented peryton.

2013 July 5, D. Thornton et al., “A Population of Fast Radio Bursts at Cosmological Distances”, in Science, volume 341, number 6141, pages 53–56:

In this model, the Lorimer burst, which was detected in three adjacent beams of the multibeam receiver, occupies a place between traditional FRB events and traditional peryton events and is believed to have occurred at some distance from the detector close to the Fresnel scale for Parkes, 20 km.

2014 June 10, E. Petrov et al., “An Absence of Fast Radio Bursts at Intermediate Galactic Latitudes”, in Astrophysics Journal Letters, volume 789, number 2:

(astronomy) A radio signal which appears to come from outside the galaxy but is actually produced by terrestrial sources.


vampiredom

Frozen at the age he was when vampiredom was thrust upon him (in the great influenza epidemic of 1918), Edward is now eternally a younger man, while Jake’s 16 and holding.

2007 August 12, Liesl Schillinger, “Children’s Books / Young Adult”, in New York Times:

The state of being a vampire; vampirehood.


yokai

From Japanese 妖怪 (yōkai, “ghost, phantom”).

(folklore, Japanese mythology) Any of various supernatural monsters, sometimes shapeshifters, in Japanese folklore.


Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu

the Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu (canonical)

law (“rule”) + of + conservation (“preservation”) + of + ninjutsu (“a martial art used by ninjas”)
The law implies that each team of ninjas has the same finite amount of "power" of martial arts, therefore a team with fewer ninjas has more powerful ninjas.

> The more creativity and ingenuity you give your aliens, the less is
> available for your humans, generally the protagonists, which means
> things will end poorly for Our Heroes. [...]
Sort of like a SCIENCE application of the Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu?

2007 December 3, sw <sw@eyrie.org>, “Re: Why so few creative aliens?”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet), message-ID <slrnfl8dbu.6gg.sw@haven.eyrie.org>:

In other words, if I can tweak the minion->normal->elite->solo system into a^([sic]) in-game representation of the Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu, there will be much win.

2008 May 19, Nockermensch <ralgomes@gmail.com>, “Re: Ampersand: The Scoop on D&D Insider”, in rec.games.frp.dnd (Usenet), message-ID <11398510-50ce-4342-a223-ca68b86c8b89@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com>:

The Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu was working in the main characters' favor, but even so, it was hard going.

2011 February 19, Andrew Perron <pwerdna@gmail.com>, “LNH/RACCies: Just Imagine Saxon Brenton vs. Andrew Perron in the Return of the RACCies! #10: Poledancing Phantoms of Limbo”, in rec.arts.comics.creative (Usenet), message-ID <1hmvlegtnnkih$.1p14289mto1ro.dlg@40tude.net>:

(narratology, fiction, informal, humorous) The ability of one or few people to win fights against many opponents.


half blood

(law) A person who shares one parent with another; a half-sibling.


spaceling

Thanks to the latest graphics technology, almost all of those spacelings will be ready for their close-ups.

2007 October 16, Seth Schiesel, “Elves Are Out, Aliens In”, in New York Times:


farspeaker

From farspeak + -er. Compare German Fernsprecher (“telephone”).

"I wish I wasn't so messed up; I wish I was bigger and stronger. Or a Farspeaker like Kyril,” she replied in a very small voice. “You can't help what happened. As for being a Farspeaker, I don't think both of us together could reach someone with the Gift to hear us, and if we could, I don't know that it would do any good," he sighed.

(science fiction, fantasy) One who farspeaks.

Ecgbert picked up the farspeaker eagerly. "Frideswide darling! I have been wating to hear from you all the morning. […] "

1948, New Statesman: the week-end review

"Let's find out whether I do or not," said Yull imperturbably, and activated the farspeaker to maximum volume. At one a voice rang out, impersonal, repetitive: the sound of a recordimal.

1984, John Brunner, The Crucible of Time:

“Sir, we found him in the farspeaker room,” said one of the guards. “He was tampering with the equipment."

2009, Nick Gevers, Jay Lake, Other Earths:

She held it out toward him. It was the size of a chicken egg, only broken in half. The other half of the crystal—carried by another—would vibrate in tune with its twin, allowing communication, like a walkie-talkie. “A farspeaker! Pindor gasped out. "Why didn't you tell us you had one!" "I did. Back when I first ran into you all," she reminded them. "I had been calling Papa on my farspeaker when I was snatched here."

2011, James Rollins, Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx:

(science fiction) A device or apparatus used to farspeak or communicate over long distances.


farsee

en-verb

farsee (third-person singular simple present farsees, present participle farseeing, simple past farsaw, past participle farseen)

farsees (present singular third-person)
farseeing (participle present)
farsaw (past)
farseen (participle past)

From far + see. Compare Dutch verziend (“farseeing, long-sighted”), German fernsehen (“to look from afar, watch television”).

cog

They set off again, the tall, elegant human and the violet-skinned exotic, too abstracted to farsee the person waiting for them in the shadows a few dozen meters ahead.

“That's a long way to farsee, even for you.” “The ge-eagle helps,” he admitted. “Cheat!” Edeard laughed.

2008, Peter F. Hamilton, The Dreaming Void:


farseer

From far + seer. Compare German Fernseher (“television”).

"I received word from the Farseer only this morning. They had been studying the motion of the central band in Brutus, […] "The men of the Farseer could not be mistaken?

1989, Jerry Pournelle, John F. Carr, The Crash of empire:

The farseer opened its right hand and its witchblade leapt from the sheath across its back and settled into his grip.

2008, Marc Gascoigne, Christian Dunn, Let the Galaxy Burn:

(fantasy) One who farsees; prophet; soothsayer; fortuneteller.

“Never mind that,” the Hunter put his hand on the barrel of the farseer. “Look now.” Damien lowered his eye to the viewpiece—and saw the […] Magnified exactly as it had been, with the farseer still fixed on the features he had chosen.

(fantasy, nonce word) An instrument or tool used to farsee; scope


hovercam

Like almost everyone else in her world, Aya records everything she does with the help of a semi-sentient hovercam (a sort of floating soccer ball that's a cross between R2D2 and Weegee), using the resulting footage to boost her face rank.

2007 November 11, James Hynes, “Looks Aren't Everything”, in New York Times:

(science fiction) A mobile hovering camera.


superhero insurance

(fiction, humorous) A supposed form of insurance held by superheroes, who often cause excessive damage to property without having to deal with payments or lawsuits.


explodium

(chiefly fiction) Any material that explodes extremely easily.


loremaster

From lore + master, possibly a learned borrowing from Middle English or calque of Middle English lore maistir (“teacher of knowledge”).

calque

The beginnings lie back in the Black Years, which only the lore-masters now remember.

1954 July 29, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “The Shadow of the Past”, in The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published September 1973, →ISBN, page 81:

Wizards, let's face it, are natural-born meddlers! Alchemists, inventors, king-makers, prophets, seers, spell-casters, loremasters, teachers, initiators, magicians, visionaries—Wizards are perpetually engaged in world-transformation, trying to make the world a better place for everyone.

2004, Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard, Book-mart Press, →ISBN, page 2:

“I’m a student of Labarnon’s, the great loremaster of the Higher Academy in the Capital, and I’m studying ancient ruins. Southern Datana has not been examined very much.”

2009, Brian Libby, Storm Approaching, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 134:

Zalaman’s eyes twinkled. “Though many loremasters dwell in Corsand, I desired written accounts. Loremasters hold much of their knowledge locked inside their blessed heads. ¶ […]”

2009, Kevin J. Herbst, The Stone of Zoral, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 237:

(chiefly fantasy) A wise person with knowledge of lore in any number of topics, such as history, genealogy, ancient poetry and possibly magic as well. A scholar


'verse

How has the landscape of the 'verse changed? Was there a toppling of the Alliance government?

2006 August 22, “Life in the 'verse AFTER the BDM”, in alt.tv.firefly (Usenet):

In the dystopian Firefly ‘verse, the government itself is “antisocial.”

2007, Joy Davidson, The Psychology of Joss Whedon: An Unauthorized Exploration of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, page 51:

Happily, it's a fun ‘verse for a journey. It's no accident that Joss Whedon built Firefly with the elements of a great MMOG.

2007, Corey Bridges, “The Virtual ‘Verse”, in Jane Espenson, editor, Serenity Found: More Unauthorized Essays on Joss Whedon's Firefly Universe:

In the Firefly/Serenity ‘verse (as in ours), unstable teenage girls are not supposed to be able to kill three men with three shots.

2008, K. Dale Koontz, Faith and Choice in the Works of Joss Whedon, page 160:

(fandom slang) The (fictional) universe in which the TV series Firefly is set.


gnoll

According to A Brief History of Gnolls, by Paul Haynie, they were created by Lord Dunsany in "How Nuth Would Have Practiced His Art Upon the Gnoles", and the name was likely derived from a playing field of the Welsh All Blacks known as the Gnoll, probably derived from English knoll.

(fantasy) A usually evil and hyena-like humanoid creature found in various forms in fantasy literature and video games.


Buffy

A pet form of Elizabeth (cf. Bethy), based on a child's unsuccessful attempts to pronounce the name. Popularized by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise.

A diminutive of the female given name Elizabeth.


Angelverse

This suggests that free will has its place in the Angelverse: the choice to fight matters to the end, even if it cannot stop a prophesied event from occurring.

2005, Stacey Abbott, Reading Angel: The TV Spin-off with a Soul, page 142:

To the degree that my universe intersects with the Angelverse, I view Angel as far more than a creature tormented by blood cravings, past horrors, and mystical forces.

2007, Joy Davidson, The Psychology of Joss Whedon: An Unauthorized Exploration of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, page 197:

At times Lorne challenges the culture of the Angelverse by bringing together disparate points of view and causing the crew at Angel Investigations to see situations and characters in an unconventional way, demonstrating a unique and significant adaptation of bardic form.

2010, Jennifer Hamilton, “Pylean Idol: L.A.'s De(con)struction of a Postmodern Bard”, in Amijo Comeford, Tamy Burnett, editors, The Literary Angel: Essays on Influences and Traditions Reflected in the Joss Whedon Series, page 45:

(fandom slang) The fictional world, or universe, which serves as the setting for the television series Angel.

Angel (TV series)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer


X-Verse

2009, Rebecca Housel, Jeremy Wisnewski, editors, X-Men and Philosophy: Astonishing Insight and Uncanny Argument in the Mutant X-Verse, John Wiley & Sons.:

First and most common is the charge that numerous characters in Heroes have powers of preexisting comic book characters, especially from the X-Men.[…]Even Isaac Mendez's power to paint the future predates him in a character from the X-verse—Nemesio from District X.

2009, David Kyle Johnson, Heroes and Philosophy: Buy the Book, Save the World, page 50:

And if Parfit is right, it should make you think twice about how quickly you judge all of the characters in the X-Verse (and the real world).[…] In the X-Verse we should be less dubious of Emma Frost working with the X-Men; […].

2010, William Irwin, David Kyle Johnson, Introducing Philosophy Through Pop Culture: From Socrates to South Park, page 88:

(fandom slang) The fictional world, or universe, which serves as the setting for the Marvel Comics and film series featuring the characters the X-Men.


Pokémon

en-noun

Pokémon (plural Pokémon or (nonstandard) Pokémons)

Pokémon (plural)
Pokémons (nonstandard plural)

From Japanese ポケモン (Pokemon), a contraction of ポケットモンスター (Poketto Monsutā), itself from English pocket monster.

contraction

Pokémons are the latest and adamantly conformist craze among middle-childhood boys. The theme of the video games that started the craze is, as usual, the triumph of good over evil. The hero is a child, twelve-year-old Ash. His goal is to capture all 150-plus nonhuman creatures called Pokémons, train them to be good, and use them to capture the remaining wicked Pokémons that so far have escaped. In the games, Ash is not your ally: he is you. Each of the Pokémons has its own sort of power which, after conversion, accrues to Ash’s (your) favor.

2001, Sara Stein, “Games They Play”, in Noah’s Children: Restoring the Ecology of Childhood, New York, N.Y.: North Point Press, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 248:

Game strategy (and tactics) are full of such learning about real life, like the rules, the strategy in games needs to be lifelike for the games to make sense, even if the characters, such as Pokémons, are purely imaginary.

2005, Marc Prensky, “Computer Games and Learning: Digital Game-Based Learning”, in Joost Raessens, Jeffrey Goldstein, editors, Handbook of Computer Game Studies, Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, →ISBN, part II (Design), page 106, column 2:

He had been delighted when his mother said, Just leave everything as it is. Not even his bed was made. He could see that little kid’s mess, his clothes, his Pokémons, his old Winnie Dubdoub, his Spiderman poster; and the truck, alone in the empty house for days now, nearly two weeks.

2005, Eva Sallis, The Marsh Birds, Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, →ISBN, page 15:

Professor Oak, the world's leading Pokémon expert, is at once a genius and a bumbling, absent-minded professor

2009, Mark I. West, The Japanification of children's popular culture: from godzilla to miyazaki, page 59:

A pocket monster; a fictional creature from the universe of the Pokémon franchise.


Whedonverse

In the Whedonverse (among other places) institutions are dangerous; communities can be life-giving.

2005, Rhonda Wilcox, Why Buffy Matters: the Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, page 159:

Neither Joss Whedon nor any other writer in the Whedonverse harbors the misogyny that drove and characterized texts like the Hammer of Witches.

2009, AmiJo Comeford, “Cordelia Chase as Failed Feminist Gesture”, in Kevin K. Durand, editor, Buffy Meets the Academy: Essays on the Episodes and Scripts as Text, page 159:

In the Whedonverse, who is willing and able to become a hero often defies two-dimensional thinking or traditional expectations.

2010, Lynnette Porter, Tarnished Heroes, Charming Villains, and Modern Monsters: Science Fiction in Shades of Gray in 21st Century Television, page 133:

Buffyspeak has also rhizomatically traversed into other shows, both within and beyond the Whedonverse; for example, the similar use of language by Topher in Dollhouse (2009–2010) and the teenagers of Caprica (2009–2010).

2019, Juliette C. Kitchens, Julie L. Hawk, Transmediating the Whedonverse(s), page 152:

(fandom slang) The loosely-defined fictional universe encompassing the worlds forming the setting for the television and film works of Joss Whedon — notably the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly, and the film Serenity.


Alice in Wonderland syndrome

en-noun

Alice in Wonderland syndrome (uncountable)

After Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865; often known as Alice in Wonderland), in which the protagonist changes size after consuming a potion and a cake.

Three cases of "Alice in Wonderland" syndrome (metamorphopsia) are presented and described as a presenting symptom of infectious mono nucleosis in a preadolescent male and in two late teenage females.

1977 February, Stuart M. Copperman, “" Alice in Wonderland" Syndrome as a Presenting Symptom of Infectious Mononucleosis in Children: A Description of Three Affected Young People”, in Clinical pediatrics, volume 16, number 2, page 143:

Alice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) is characterized by visual hallucinations and bizarre perceptual distortions.

1998 August, Yung-Ting Kuo, Nan-Chang Chiu, Ein-Yiao Shen, Che-Sheng Ho, Ming-CheWu, “Cerebral perfusion in children with Alice in Wonderland syndrome”, in Pediatric neurology, volume 19, number 2, page 105:

After all, Alice in Wonderland syndrome was, until recently, believed to be so rare that most university courses in medicine, psychology and the neurosciences did not even bother to address it.

2019, Jan Dirk Blom, Alice in Wonderland Syndrome:

(medicine, neurology) A disorienting neurological condition involving micropsia, macropsia, or size distortion of other sensory modalities.

Alice in Wonderland syndrome
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll

syndrome d’Alice au pays des merveilles

neurological condition affecting the perception of size

síndrome de Alice no país das maravilhas


hoverjet

(science fiction) A kind of levitating aeroplane or spacecraft.


Leia

From the name of a princess in the American fantasy film Star Wars (1977).

A female given name originating as a coinage.


sequel hook

(narratology, informal) A plot device where information or characters are placed into a plot that can provide the basis for subsequent sequel stories.


Hollywood ugly

en-adj

Hollywood ugly (comparative more Hollywood ugly, superlative most Hollywood ugly)

more Hollywood ugly (comparative)
most Hollywood ugly (superlative)

(of a fictional character) good-looking passed off as ugly; ugly by Hollywood standards


werewolfdom

Werewolf of London (1935) was one of the earliest Hollywood films about werewolfdom; as such, it is ponderous and self-important.

1986, David Hogan, Dark Romance: Sexuality in the Horror Film - Page 43:

Werewolfdom is caused by a virus, somewhat like rabies, which liberates an atavistic part of the brain that human beings have lost.

2001, Lindo J. Holland-Toll, As American As Mom, Baseball, and Apple Pie:

Stories about running with Samson in their early days of werewolfdom, most of which ended with Samson waking up naked on the front porch of a ranger station.

2011, Molly Harper, How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf:

The state of being a werewolf; werewolfism; lycanthropy.


elfdom

So much semblance of the unfanciful truth of things and enforcement from actual humanity these fanciful stories of elfdom have, to give real pleasure and profit, and to bear out the pious conclusion of the Preface...

1859, The Christian Examiner, volume 67, page 395:

When I set out to plan a series of picture books about European elves, the first task was to sort out the strands of their individual characteristics. In studying folklore collected in the nineteenth century, I found a whole sociology of elfdom emerging from people’s beliefs.

1969 June, Mary Calhoun, “Tracking Down Elves in Folklore”, in The Horn Book Magazine, volume XLV, number 3, page 278:


hoverbike

(science fiction) A motorbike capable of levitation.


snogger

They're nearly as pathetic as those snoggers (sad, deluded morons who believe DD and GA should be together!).

2001 July 12, Caffeine Cal, “Re: *Nasty* Doggett-Haters Website :(”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

It's a bit sad when snoggers write in to the IMDB to pass on the false information that DD has "filed for divorce" from TL: […]

2002 August 27, pam, “Re: Doggett to come back to Fox”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

While I'm not a snogger (don't look at me like that!), I do think, from what little I know of them, that David and Gillian had a kind of working relationship that in some weird cosmic way must have reflected what we saw on the screen between them.

2005 June 17, Robert Cook, “Re: Speaking of "Lost"”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

(X-Files fandom slang, derogatory) A fan who believed Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny were romantically involved or shipped them together.