# Help needed fast: Is 'warp speed' unique/original to Star Trek?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 16, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522 "2009-01-16T01:29:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/1 "2009-01-16T01:29:25Z")
I’m editing someone else’s sci-fi story, and the author refers to the starship travelling at “warp speed.” Now, I’m _sooo_ not a science or even science fiction expert. (So why am I responsible for a sci-fi book? Well, it’s a gimmicky romance with a sci-fi theme developed by a small publisher whom I work for.) However, as a fan of _Star Trek_ and having done my own rudimentary research, I suspect that the term “warp speed” began with the Trek universe and isn’t a legit scientific term.
That is: of course faster-than-light speed _is_ a real concept, albeit theoretical, but calling it “warp speed” seems to have begun with Roddenberry. Is this correct?
I know it’s a phrase we use now in a generic sense, as in, “dang that driver’s going at warp speed!” But a book developing its own set of rules and terms needs something either _truly_ generic (like “faster-than-light”) or unique. And alas, it’s apparently up to me to come up with the term.
Just so I know, are there any other terms that I should avoid? Like, _Star Wars_ used “hyperspeed,” I think. The only other one I can think of is “slipstream” from _Andromeda_. Well, unless you count the “Holly Hop Drive” from _Red Dwarf_. As I said, my sci-fi knowledge is fairly limited. Is “lightspeed” generic enough, or is that from some other universe?
Please help! My deadline’s tonight, so I need an answer … in lightspeed, I guess.
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### Author:  [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/2 "2009-01-16T01:41:24Z")
FTL (faster than light) and superluminal are about as generic as you can get.
> **[Faster-than-light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faster-than-light#Science_fiction_links)**
>
> Faster-than-light (also FTL, superluminal or supercausal) travel and communication are the conjectural propagation of matter or information faster than the speed of light (c). The special theory of relativity implies that only particles with zero rest mass (i.e., photons) may travel at the speed of light, and that nothing may travel faster.
> Particles whose speed exceeds that of light (tachyons) have been hypothesized, but their existence would violate causality and would imply time travel. The s...
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/3 "2009-01-16T01:46:16Z")
I’ve read hundreds of sf books before ST:TOS came out, and I recall none talking about warp speed. Hyperspace (like in Asimov stories) or maybe subspace has been common. Space warps and using some other dimension to go ftl was also common, but never a warp drive or warp speed to the best of my knowledge.
Does the guy have an explanation for ftl travel, or is that not necessary in a romance?
I think hyper-drive is fairly generic. Or, give it the name of the supposed inventor, like the Minschkoff drive or something. That would be safe.
ETA: lightspeed is very bad. since you want to go faster than lightspeed. It’s from Star Wars anyway.
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### Author:  [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/4 "2009-01-16T02:00:39Z")
Oh that’s an awesome link, **Aesiron** , thank you! Superluminal appeals to me, but … well, my experience with the publisher tells me she’s gonna balk at a word as hifalutin’ as ‘luminal’. (Her opinion of her readers is not very high.) Hmm, what about ‘superlux drive’?
**Voyager** , your info is extremely useful. I trust a guy with your screenname implicitly. 😉
No, the science in this book is _very_ much brushed over, which disappoints me to a degree – I like that stuff, if it’s not too woolly. The book’s really almost a parody; well, parody is the wrong word, as it’s not intended to be especially humorous, but what I mean is, the sci-fi is really just a gimmick. They publish romances in different high concept genres (western, gothic, bodice-ripper, time travel, sword-n-sworcery, etc.) and they’re not especially _serious_. For this one, the publisher peppered in some “alien” and “futuristic” terms and descriptions to liven things up. For example, they’ve renamed ‘elevator’ in the space ship to ‘liftotron’ and gave a character three arms and so on.
Mine’s not to reason why, mine’s but to copy edit and think of England. But I’m a stickler and in good conscience I can’t use something that’s specific to an existing fictional universe.
I definitely like the idea of naming the drive after an inventor. Dollars to doughnuts, though, the publisher will balk at that too, saying that the audience will wonder who Mischkoff really is. Le sigh.
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### Author:  [@Cider\_Depot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cider_Depot)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/5 "2009-01-16T02:07:23Z")
Just as an aside, in the pilot of Star Trek the mechanism was called a _Time_ Warp Drive
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/6 "2009-01-16T02:08:52Z")
I agree with **Voyager** about “warp factor” and “warp speed”. That usage seems to be original with Star Trek, although a lot of people have picked it up now. I suspect that Roddenbery might have been influenced by the marine term “warping a ship”, meaning to change its course:
[http://www.allwords.com/word-warp.html](http://www.allwords.com/word-warp.html)
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### Author:  [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/7 "2009-01-16T02:12:01Z")
_Love in a liftotron
Lovin’ it up when I’m goin’ down
Love in a lift-o-tro-on
Livin’ it up 'til I hit the hyperfloor_
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### Author:  [@Cider\_Depot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cider_Depot)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/8 "2009-01-16T02:16:00Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> I agree with **Voyager** about “warp factor” and “warp speed”. That usage seems to be original with Star Trek, although a lot of people have picked it up now. I suspect that Roddenbery might have been influenced by the marine term “warping a ship”, meaning to change its course:
>
> [http://www.allwords.com/word-warp.html](http://www.allwords.com/word-warp.html)
UNlikely, because as I stated above, the phenomenon was originally referred to in Star Trek as _Time Warp_, which was a sci-fi phrase from the 1950s
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### Author:  [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/9 "2009-01-16T02:21:19Z")
I’m LOLing, literally, **Terrifel**. I wish I were kidding about that name. On the plus side, the term getes a total of _one_ hit on Google, so I know it’s original.
Thanks for the confirmation about the warp drive’s proprietary nature, guys. I think I will go with _superlux_ – it sounds appropriately “oooOOOoohh, future, man!” while actually making lexicographical sense. Still, not sure it works for “superlux speed” itself. I’ll probably stick to the basic “faster-than-light” term, unless anyone has any other brainstorms or caveats.
> [@Cider Depot](#):
>
> the phenomenon was originally referred to in Star Trek as Time Warp, which was a sci-fi phrase from the 1950s
And one helluva fab dance.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/10 "2009-01-16T02:32:20Z")
Okay I checked the _Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction_ and the cites they offer:
**warp** - 1946 in Fredric Brown’s _Placet Is Crazy Place_. There are earlier uses of “space warp” but this is the first reference to it as a means of propulsion.
**warp drive** - 1949 from Fredric Brown again in _Gateway to Darkness_.
**warp speed** - explicitly from Star Trek.
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### Author:  [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/11 "2009-01-16T05:22:21Z")
Fascinating.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/12 "2009-01-16T05:56:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Just as an aside, in the pilot of Star Trek the mechanism was called a Time Warp Drive
I don’t recall that. Nor do I recall the phrase “Time Warp” from the 1950s.
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### Author:  [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/13 "2009-01-16T06:03:26Z")
Don’t forget Ludicrous speed. Fastest of them all.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/14 "2009-01-16T06:21:02Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> Nor do I recall the phrase “Time Warp” from the 1950s.
I remember doing the time warp.
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### Author:  [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/15 "2009-01-16T06:46:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> I don’t recall that. Nor do I recall the phrase “Time Warp” from the 1950s.
“Time warp” was in use in the 1930s.
Cite: [http://www.jessesword.com/sf/home](http://www.jessesword.com/sf/home)
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### Author:  [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/16 "2009-01-16T07:07:26Z")
I always assumed it arose from talk about warpage of spacetime. [The OED seems to back me up on this.](http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50231942/50231942se161?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=space+warp&first=1&max_to_show=10&hilite=50231942se161) (“space warp” in science fiction dating to 1936 and arising in the manner I described)
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### Author:  [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/17 "2009-01-16T07:12:31Z")
(I guess **Just Some Guy** had made a similar observation, and then noted how the term evolved from there)
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### Author:  [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/18 "2009-01-16T07:22:40Z")
Am I the only person who thinks it would be very unlikely to be a problem, especially in a one-off light work?
I mean, it’s not like you’re calling the main rival race the Cardassians or some such nonsense. The Great Bird of the Galaxy surely would be flattered, & Paramount’s lawyers probably don’t even know if “warp speed” is original to _Trek_. And I expect that it has been used somewhere other than _Trek_ in the last 40 years, without repercussion.
Oooh, “repercussion speed”!
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### Author:  [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/19 "2009-01-16T13:02:33Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#):
>
> (I guess **Just Some Guy** had made a similar observation, and then noted how the term evolved from there)
Don’t worry; we’re the only ones smart, dashing, and ruggedly handsome enough to break out the reference books. 😉
And for those curious on the digression **time warp** is attributed to Robert Moore Williams who used it in his 1938 story _Flight of the Dawn Star_. He used it in contrast to a “space warp”.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-needed-fast-is-warp-speed-unique-original-to-star-trek/481522/20 "2009-01-16T13:17:42Z")
I like the sound of “Quantum Slipstream”.
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