"file off the serial numbers" meaning in English

See file off the serial numbers in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: en-au-file off the serial numbers.ogg [Australia] Forms: files off the serial numbers [present, singular, third-person], filing off the serial numbers [participle, present], filed off the serial numbers [participle, past], filed off the serial numbers [past]
Etymology: From the practice of filing the serial numbers off of firearms in order to make their origin and ownership difficult to trace. Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} file off the serial numbers (third-person singular simple present files off the serial numbers, present participle filing off the serial numbers, simple past and past participle filed off the serial numbers)
  1. (fandom slang, idiomatic) To remove the copyrighted elements from an existing work of fan fiction so that it may be commercially published as original fiction. Wikipedia link: Cthulhu Mythos, Les Misérables, Sherlock Holmes, Star Wars Tags: idiomatic, slang Categories (topical): Copyright, Fan fiction Hypernyms: pull-to-publish
    Sense id: en-file_off_the_serial_numbers-en-verb-Z2E9rXgs Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Topics: lifestyle

Download JSON data for file off the serial numbers meaning in English (3.6kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "From the practice of filing the serial numbers off of firearms in order to make their origin and ownership difficult to trace.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "files off the serial numbers",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "filing off the serial numbers",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "filed off the serial numbers",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "filed off the serial numbers",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "file off the serial numbers (third-person singular simple present files off the serial numbers, present participle filing off the serial numbers, simple past and past participle filed off the serial numbers)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Copyright",
          "orig": "en:Copyright",
          "parents": [
            "Intellectual property",
            "Law",
            "Justice",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Fan fiction",
          "orig": "en:Fan fiction",
          "parents": [
            "Fandom",
            "Fiction",
            "Literature",
            "Culture",
            "Artistic works",
            "Entertainment",
            "Writing",
            "Society",
            "Art",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Language",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Communication",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1998 March 6, Julie Lim, “Help!”, in rec.arts.sf.composition (Usenet)",
          "text": "For a while now, I've been pottering away at a Star Wars fanfic novella ([URL redacted], if you must know). I've received a few pokes about filing off the serial numbers and trying to sell it as an independent work.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 January 15, David Thornley, “Re: harry potter”, in rec.games.int-fiction (Usenet)",
          "text": "I've heard a rumor that Bujold started the Barrayar series as Star Trek fanfic, and there's enough resemblance there to make that seem very plausible to me. Suppose she did. By filing off the serial numbers, she was able to make the universe her own, to change as she needed to.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012 April 1, Elizabeth Tai, “Quantity over quality?”, in The Star, Malaysia",
          "text": "I say “may have” because [E. L.] James has “filed off the serial numbers” of her fanfic.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To remove the copyrighted elements from an existing work of fan fiction so that it may be commercially published as original fiction."
      ],
      "hypernyms": [
        {
          "word": "pull-to-publish"
        }
      ],
      "id": "en-file_off_the_serial_numbers-en-verb-Z2E9rXgs",
      "links": [
        [
          "fandom",
          "fandom"
        ],
        [
          "slang",
          "slang"
        ],
        [
          "copyrighted",
          "copyrighted"
        ],
        [
          "fan fiction",
          "fan fiction"
        ],
        [
          "commercially",
          "commercially"
        ],
        [
          "published",
          "published"
        ],
        [
          "original",
          "original"
        ],
        [
          "fiction",
          "fiction"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(fandom slang, idiomatic) To remove the copyrighted elements from an existing work of fan fiction so that it may be commercially published as original fiction."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "lifestyle"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Cthulhu Mythos",
        "Les Misérables",
        "Sherlock Holmes",
        "Star Wars"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-file off the serial numbers.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/23/En-au-file_off_the_serial_numbers.ogg/En-au-file_off_the_serial_numbers.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/En-au-file_off_the_serial_numbers.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "file off the serial numbers"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "From the practice of filing the serial numbers off of firearms in order to make their origin and ownership difficult to trace.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "files off the serial numbers",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "filing off the serial numbers",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "filed off the serial numbers",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "filed off the serial numbers",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "file off the serial numbers (third-person singular simple present files off the serial numbers, present participle filing off the serial numbers, simple past and past participle filed off the serial numbers)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hypernyms": [
    {
      "word": "pull-to-publish"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English fandom slang",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "en:Copyright",
        "en:Fan fiction"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1998 March 6, Julie Lim, “Help!”, in rec.arts.sf.composition (Usenet)",
          "text": "For a while now, I've been pottering away at a Star Wars fanfic novella ([URL redacted], if you must know). I've received a few pokes about filing off the serial numbers and trying to sell it as an independent work.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 January 15, David Thornley, “Re: harry potter”, in rec.games.int-fiction (Usenet)",
          "text": "I've heard a rumor that Bujold started the Barrayar series as Star Trek fanfic, and there's enough resemblance there to make that seem very plausible to me. Suppose she did. By filing off the serial numbers, she was able to make the universe her own, to change as she needed to.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012 April 1, Elizabeth Tai, “Quantity over quality?”, in The Star, Malaysia",
          "text": "I say “may have” because [E. L.] James has “filed off the serial numbers” of her fanfic.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To remove the copyrighted elements from an existing work of fan fiction so that it may be commercially published as original fiction."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fandom",
          "fandom"
        ],
        [
          "slang",
          "slang"
        ],
        [
          "copyrighted",
          "copyrighted"
        ],
        [
          "fan fiction",
          "fan fiction"
        ],
        [
          "commercially",
          "commercially"
        ],
        [
          "published",
          "published"
        ],
        [
          "original",
          "original"
        ],
        [
          "fiction",
          "fiction"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(fandom slang, idiomatic) To remove the copyrighted elements from an existing work of fan fiction so that it may be commercially published as original fiction."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "lifestyle"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Cthulhu Mythos",
        "Les Misérables",
        "Sherlock Holmes",
        "Star Wars"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-file off the serial numbers.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/23/En-au-file_off_the_serial_numbers.ogg/En-au-file_off_the_serial_numbers.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/En-au-file_off_the_serial_numbers.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "file off the serial numbers"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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