# Sci-Fi vs. Science Fiction: Geek terminology preferences. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859 "2002-12-31T13:29:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/41 "2003-01-03T12:52:55Z")
I don’t even know what that _means_ and it drives me crazy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/42 "2003-01-03T14:11:53Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Dr. Righteous_ > **I’ve met Harlan many a time (we have a mutual close friend) and I have no idea why he hates the term so much. Maybe someday when I’m feeling up to hearing his answer I’ll ask him.** Harlan Ellison did his commentary on “sci-fi” vs. “science fiction” for a TV program some years back; I saw the tape at a convention in 1997. It’s well worth your time to find the tape and watch it. I could summarize the commentary in one sentence, but I could never do full justice to Ellison’s attitude. (Ellison is famous for an attitude and ego the size of, oh, the Cosmic All.) Or pop a fresh tape in the camcorder and ask him. I’d love to see what Ellison could do with a friendly audience and no time constraint. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/43 "2003-01-03T14:17:40Z")
Was recently rereading Brian Aldiss’ _Billion Year Spree_; his take on the subject was “only would-be trendies use ‘sci-fi’.” Whether or not it was originally meant to, “sci-fi” has taken on a rather dismissive and pejorative sense … I wouldn’t use it, I’d use “science fiction” or “SF”. (Though I do belong to that subset of people who use “skiffy” to describe bad SF they nonetheless like.) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/44 "2003-01-03T20:38:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\*SoHo must drive you crazy then. \*\* To say nothing of the “moho” discontinuity layer under the Earth’s crust. (The Marvel cartoon _Inhumanoids_ pronounced it “mojo”. :rolleyes: ) ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/45 "2003-01-03T22:03:16Z")
I agree with **Tomcat**. I think ‘SF’, ‘Sci-Fi’, and ‘Science Fiction’ all refer to the same thing, and am completely comfortable using any of the variants, even in mixed company (whatever that means). But…can we please all agree that we need to come up with a better term for the genre of ‘Fantasy’? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/46 "2003-01-04T10:55:34Z")
SOHO=Small Office/Home Office. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2003, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/47 "2003-01-04T12:19:25Z")
By the seven green moons of Gongle, the geekery is stong with this thread. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/48 "2003-02-18T05:49:04Z")
While I don’t have a dog in this race, I’d like to contribute that the earliest use of the term “sci-fi” was discussed on the American Dialectic Society List just yesterday and today. Result: Heinlein used it first in a letter in 1949. That will be the new cite in the OED. From [here](http://www.jessesword.com/SF/sf_crit.shtml) This may be what **Exapno** was referring to. And it may be a totally inconsequential use of the term. I’m just reporting something that I found out for the first time today. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/49 "2003-02-18T06:13:14Z")
I ran into this problem in an embarrassing way. When I was on Jeopardy, my card mentioned that I was a science fiction fan. Alex asked me who my favorite sci-fi writer was. I started to object to it, then remembered 4sj (who I met during a tour of the Ackermansion many years ago - my parents lived for a time only a few blocks from it.) I didn’t feel I could insult him on national tv. It came out a total mess - but happily they edited it out. Alas, today sci-fi is mostly used by mundanes laughing at us, so I never use it. SF covers pretty much all the bases. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/50 "2003-02-18T17:53:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samclem \* > \*\*While I don’t have a dog in this race, I’d like to contribute that the earliest use of the term “sci-fi” was discussed on the American Dialectic Society List just yesterday and today. > > Result: Heinlein used it first in a letter in 1949. That will be the new cite in the OED. From [here](http://www.jessesword.com/SF/sf_crit.shtml) > > This may be what **Exapno** was referring to. And it may be a totally inconsequential use of the term. I’m just reporting something that I found out for the first time today. \*\* Yes it was. From Forey Ackerman’s page: > [@](#): > > Sacred Heinlein used the term 7 years before I did, in a positive fashion in a private letter to his legendary agent. This would put the usage in 1947 rather than 1949, but it could easily be a mistake of memory on Forey’s part. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/51 "2003-02-18T18:55:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*By the seven green moons of Gongle, the geekery is stong with this thread. \*\* Oh I don’t know, I remember one week, not long after I joined the [L.A.S.F.S.](http://www.lasfs.org/) I was thinking about the upcoming [LosCon](http://www.loscon.org/) and wondering were I put my Starfleet uniform and did my phaser have fresh batteries when I remembered that not only was I scheduled to headline one of the [filk rooms](http://www.filk.com/) but it was the same weekend that I was supposed to be at sheild-wall practice for the [West/Caid War](http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7895/westcaid.html) . Yikes! Luckily, my good friend and fellow attendee of the most recent [B.S.I. Dinner](http://www.lafterhall.com/sherlock4.html) re-scheduled and we managed to even squeeze in a trip to [Golden Apple’s](http://www.goldenapplecomics.com/) . What a day. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/52 "2003-02-18T18:59:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*Yeah, but Ellison derides just about everything and whines about everything else. \*\* It’s _spelled_ **Harlan Ellison** but it’s _pronounced:_ “Throat warbler-Mangrove”. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859/53 "2003-02-18T19:26:17Z")
originally posted by SmackFu > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > SoHo must drive you crazy then. > > Originally posted by Achernar > > > [@](#): > > > > I don’t even know what that means and it drives me crazy. SoHo, in that spelling and typography, does not usually refer to “Small office, Home office”, but to the area of New York City that is South of Houston (pronounced “Howston,” NOT “Hewston” like the Texas city.) By the “sci fih” rule, SoHo ought to be pronounced SowHow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sci-fi-vs-science-fiction-geek-terminology-preferences/145859.md?page=2)