So I’ve picked up that this is a bit of a thing among the Star Trek fandom: One of those words is very much not the preferred nomenclature, and the other one is. I’ve never understood why. So what’s the deal?
Trekkie is the proper term for a Star Trek fan
Trekker sounds stupid and is not a real word
Trekker is a fan of the shows and movies. A Trekkie is a fan who dresses up while going to conventions.
And they both want to be called Trekker. But there will be disagreement with this…
You chose the noun form of trek as the one that’s not a real word?
Trekkers take it way, way, way too seriously. Trekkies are casual fans.
I’m a Trekkie. Or a Treknik. Trekophile? “Trekker” sounds like one of those TNG fans…
My question, really, is why “Trekkers”–that being the preferred nomenclature, so far as I can tell–get so irritated if anyone calls them “Trekkies”.
Folly is correct. The Second Stone has it backwards.
It’s a question of reference point.
“Trekkie” is the pop-culture-accepted term, it’s the one my mom would know, and it’s the one most of the big Trek fans I know (who are of the maybe-a-convention-every-few-years set) would use.
Using “Trekker” indicates you’re far enough down the wormhole that you care about the terminology.
For whatever reason many fans consider “Trekkie” as disparaging, while “Trekker” is considered more respectable. The funny thing is that Gene Roddenbery favored the term “Trekkie”, even correcting questioners that used “Trekker”. (At least that’s what the commentary track of the endlessly amusing documentary “Trekkies” claimed.)
Trekkers are fans of the shows and movies because of the great overall story and social commentary embodied in the them of optimism and a better future. Trekkies need a life.
A Trekker will buy a set of Spock’s ear tips used in a specific episode.
A Trekkie will wear them.
To dinner.
At Applebees.
:dubious:
Here, we’re all called Trek Dopers.
Seconded. Word for word. And among the fans I know, even former “Trekkers” consider the term ridiculous.
Trekkie is a diminutive, it reduces fan activities into something negative and childish. Fans of Star Trek do not want to be viewed so dismissively, and therefore prefer a word that represents their participation in fan activities, and of their imagining travelling along with their heroes through space. Trekker represents that.
A “Trekkie” is a Star Trek fan who gets confused when he hears that there’s some sort of controversy over the two words (I honestly never heard about the distinction until recently, but am in no way surprised that fans have been arguing about it for 40 years).
What kind of freak eats at Applebees?:dubious:
It’s like black-on-black use of ‘ni%%er’.
Trekkie is what outsiders call them. To the group they are Trekkors.
I was lurking in this thread a second ago, and I have a problem with it.
Isn’t the reason for two terms, a bit self-serving?
The debate is over the terms being interchangeable, thus I won’t be using them.
At once, it seeks to divide our group, and worse, it does so with condescension. I am sure that I am uniquely me, and if you want to move me further into the nomenclature of a nerd or geek, so be it. However, I don’t think it serves us well to essentially say “he is more of a geek than I am” or “he isn’t OUR type of geek”.
I am currently watching TNG episodes one after the other, in order, thanks to Netflix. I’m half way through season 5. (Indeed you can see the post I made on S5:E18) I am thoroughly enjoying it, and getting insight on many issues. I love phillosohy, Trek philosophy, especially when it is new ground for me, such that I won’t need to “reinvent the wheel” later.
For this, and other reasons, I don’t regret my choice to complete watching the entire run. Does that make me more of a fan than some others? Of course.
But that also gets back to my point. I think at the point we have to split hairs here, only proves we are more devoted to the show than [del] muggles [/del] [del] mundanes [/del] … People who still confuse Trek with Star Wars. (Not meant to slight Wars in the least.)
Do something for the exploration and the satisfaction of your curiosity. That should give more than enough resistance to counter any label put upon you, for any endeavor.
I could, and think I will, go Meta for a second.
Would Starfleet approve of the Trekkie / Trekker Rhetoric?
[Knowing full well, that just placed me firmly in one camp over the other.]