# Names of obsolete/outdated technology that continues to get mileage in sci-fi works **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 3, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962 "2013-11-03T03:40:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/21 "2013-11-03T22:02:45Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Of course, one might say the entire “navy” analogy for space-faring forces is as outdated as the Army Air Force. At the very least it’s silly, as modern space operations are more tied to the Air Force. A number of real-life terms relating to air and space travel that are still in common use are borrowed or adapted from nautical terms. Since we still call people who steer airplanes “pilots”, the places where airplanes load and unload “airports”, and people who travel through outer space “astronauts”, I don’t think it’s outdated or silly for science fiction authors to invent similar terms. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/22 "2013-11-03T22:26:48Z")
> [@The\_Lurker\_Above](#): > > In fact some authors _ **cough Weber cough** _ just take historical naval battles, file off the serial numbers, and set them in space. You don’t often see the same done with air-force battles. Actually, I’ve been nursing a pet theory that the Manticoran 8th Fleet, which was doing deep-strike raids against Havenite industrial bases, might have been a reference to the USAAF 8th Air Force, famous for their daylight bombing campaign against Occupied Europe and Germany (along with the 12th and 15th Air Forces, but alas, they don’t get as many movies made about them). EDIT: Although did you notice how the early FTL comm relays were basically telegraphs? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/23 "2013-11-03T22:33:45Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > A friend from college had, for his favored sci-fi rant, the constant misuse of the word “Rifle” in sci-fi. A Rifle, by definition, is a weapon with a “rifled” barrel, rifling being the practice of cutting spiraling grooves down the length of a barrel to impart a stabilizing spin on a bullet (pretty much exactly the same as how you are supposed to pass a football). Nobody could figure out exactly how rifling was of any benefit to beams of light. Maybe photons hit harder if you can spin them first. What’s the alternative- laser musket? 😛 > [@Raguleader](#): > > “Space Marines” is another one, since Marines derive their name from the fact that they traditionally operate from the sea. That said, if we ever do take up space warfare and include infantry of any sort, this one is pretty much inevitable. The Atomic Rockets website suggests the term [“espatiers”](http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/crew.php#espatiers) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/24 "2013-11-03T23:31:41Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > What’s the alternative- laser musket? 😛 Laser…longarm? Lightlock? ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/25 "2013-11-03T23:52:37Z")
> [@Longshanks](#): > > Why not call them space infantry? That’s a different branch. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/26 "2013-11-04T00:06:52Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Maybe photons hit harder if you can spin them first. Do it right and they’ll hit like a plank. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/27 "2013-11-04T00:44:41Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Laser…longarm? Lightlock? Carbine. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/28 "2013-11-04T02:06:25Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Because “Space Marine” sounds cooler, I guess. There’s not that many “Space Marines” as such though I think. There’s _Marines_ who are in _space,_ but most aren’t called _Space Marines;_ they’re just called Marines or something like “Colonial Marines”. The three groups actually named Space Marines I can think of are the Warhammer 40k supersoldiers, the Grayson Space Marines, and Orz Space Marines. > [@Lumpy](#): > > What’s the alternative- laser musket? 😛 Photon slingshot! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/29 "2013-11-04T06:08:14Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Nobody could figure out exactly how rifling was of any benefit to beams of light. Maybe photons hit harder if you can spin them first. Well, most sci-fi energy weapons aren’t called lasers, so we’re not necessarily dealing with beams of light. Maybe the “barrel” of the weapon contains part of the machinery that generates the energy blast. Maybe the weapon doesn’t have to be that shape, but it does need to be that bulky, so they may as well build it that shape so it’s easier to aim. Maybe the “barrel” modifies the energy blast in a way that improves the weapon’s range and accuracy, so the people who use them call them rifles out of inertia. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/30 "2013-11-04T06:23:28Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > A friend from college had, for his favored sci-fi rant, the constant misuse of the word “Rifle” in sci-fi. A Rifle, by definition, is a weapon with a “rifled” barrel, rifling being the practice of cutting spiraling grooves down the length of a barrel to impart a stabilizing spin on a bullet (pretty much exactly the same as how you are supposed to pass a football). Nobody could figure out exactly how rifling was of any benefit to beams of light. Maybe photons hit harder if you can spin them first. Can’t see this sort of thing happening in real life. Not at all. Nobody would call an energy weapon a rifle in the real world. No sirree. [Taser: Thomas A. Swift’s electric rifle.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taser) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/31 "2013-11-04T06:30:52Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > There’s not that many “Space Marines” as such though I think. There’s _Marines_ who are in _space,_ but most aren’t called _Space Marines;_ they’re just called Marines or something like “Colonial Marines”. The three groups actually named Space Marines I can think of are the Warhammer 40k supersoldiers, the Grayson Space Marines, and Orz Space Marines. The guys in _Starship Troopers_ weren’t called “Space Marines”, but Heinlein did use the term in several other stories (including _Space Cadet_ and various short stories in his “Future History”). H. Beam Piper also had Space Marines in his “Future History” (including the Fuzzy novels). The name seems to show up fairly frequently in your more space-opera-ish science fiction from maybe the Thirties through the Sixties. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/32 "2013-11-04T09:15:56Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > The guys in _Starship Troopers_ weren’t called “Space Marines”, but Heinlein did use the term in several other stories (including _Space Cadet_ and various short stories in his “Future History”). H. Beam Piper also had Space Marines in his “Future History” (including the Fuzzy novels). The name seems to show up fairly frequently in your more space-opera-ish science fiction from maybe the Thirties through the Sixties. Per TV Tropes (it’s been so long since I read the book I can’t remember myself), the troopers in Starship Troopers were arguably more like Space Paratroopers than Space Marines. Drop them into hostile territory, let them cause disproportionate damage and chaos scattered behind enemy lines (an early engagement in the book, described as a pretty typical raid, had the troopers a few kilometers apart, IIRC) And yes, laser musket was suggested. My friends were fun that way. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/33 "2013-11-04T11:22:29Z")
How about “shield”? I suppose [police still use them](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Police_Officer_with_balistic_shield.JPG), but soldiers mostly don’t, yet every space cruiser worth its salt has “shields”, and is in danger of “losing the shields” or “losing a shield”. In fact, the “shields” for spaceships might better be termed “force _armor_”–“armor” is arguably a less archaic term than “shields”, for [both vehicles and personnel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:3ACRPatrol%28OIF3%29.jpg), and more closely describes your typical science fiction “deflector shield” in use and behavior–but I can’t think of any science fiction examples that use the term “armor” to refer to some kind of force field. (_Star Trek: Enterprise_ did have “hull plating”, but IIRC that was actual plating that had had its polarity reversed or some such.) ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/34 "2013-11-04T11:49:36Z")
Just as an aside: we still say “dial” for telephones, so it’s not surprising that old language would continue even when outmoded by technology. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/35 "2013-11-04T12:41:54Z")
Quite a number of SF novels set in the future still use the word ‘tape’ to describe digital storage media. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/36 "2013-11-04T13:09:14Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Carbine. What, like for Space Cavalry? [Hmmm…](http://gregaeudaimonia.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/horse-galaxi-rangers.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/37 "2013-11-04T13:25:29Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Quite a number of SF novels set in the future still use the word ‘tape’ to describe digital storage media. Many of them are from when that was the only rewritable storage media, tho. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/38 "2013-11-04T13:29:57Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > I can’t think of any science fiction examples that use the term “armor” to refer to some kind of force field. (_Star Trek: Enterprise_ did have “hull plating”, but IIRC that was actual plating that had had its polarity reversed or some such.) Well, there’s _GalaxyQuest_, with the plasma armor. (Crewman Guy asks if they should return fire; Jason replies _“no, divert all energy to the armor”_ before telling Sarris it doesn’t take a great actor to recognize a bad one; Gwen says the armor’s almost gone, Sarris berates the fool for failing to realize that, _“with your armor gone, my ship will tear through yours like tissue paper…”_) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/39 "2013-11-04T14:24:55Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Carbine. A carbine is just a short-barreled rifle. Like the M4 is the carbine version of the M16. I suppose “laser gun” would be the appropriate term for portable laser weapon. “laser pistol” and “laser carbine” would also be appropriate if they came in different sizes. > [@Ranchoth](#): > > What, like for Space Cavalry? Actually, I think the Colonial Space Marines from Aliens would be analogous to modern Armored Cavalry, if they were part of the Army. Actually I wish to modify my earlier statement. I could imagine some future space fleet borrowing historic terms from the Air Force and Navy rather than just making up new words. I’m just pretty sure that future space wars won’t be fought George Lucas Battle of Midway in Space style. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962/40 "2013-11-04T15:05:04Z")
Well in every space setting, a ship is said to have a “captain”. Interestingly, Russia, the US and China have used the designation “commander” for the astronaut incharge of a spacecraft. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-obsolete-outdated-technology-that-continues-to-get-mileage-in-sci-fi-works/672962.md?page=3)