# Unnecessary words used in science fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [June 19, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599 "2021-06-19T01:34:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/41 "2021-06-22T22:38:22Z")
There are billions of stars in the Galaxy, each of which is following its own orbit around the core under the influence of multiple other factors. You honestly think you’re going to get from point A to B by just pointing the nose of your ship where you want to go, and that you’re not going to encounter hazards (known and unknown, visible and invisible) along the way? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/42 "2021-06-22T22:58:42Z")
I suspect that “Globo-dollar” would be elided to “dollar” almost immediately; same with “space dollar.” > [@asterion](#): > > I’m trying to remember which novel it was where the really stunning prediction wasn’t the idea of the cell phone but the idea that you might leave it at home or turn it off so that people would stop bothering you for a while. As @mbh said, it’s Space Cadet; the novel also features helicopter parents using the phone to check in on their son, and embarrassing him by doing so, and the kid getting out of the call using the excuse that it’s rude to talk on the phone while in a crowd ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/43 "2021-06-22T23:06:40Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > IIRC, there was a some discussion of sending one of the _Pioneer_ probes through a “gap” in Saturn’s rings; they decided against it, which is just as well, as subsequent observations showed the “gap” wasn’t so empty, and any spacecraft flying through it at orbital speeds would have been quickly destroyed. YDNRC. > **[Hear the passage through the rings](https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Cassini-Huygens/Hear_the_passage_through_the_rings)** > > When the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens spacecraft reached Saturn on 1 July, it rushed up through a gap in Saturn's rings on its way around the planet, and then did it again on the way down. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/44 "2021-06-22T23:17:48Z")
Heinlein also did something similar in the short story “Blowups Happen”, in which an engineer goes to a bar and deliberately leaves his pocketphone at the office. ---
**Author:** ![lum\_s\_husband](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lum_s_husband/32/3698_2.png) [@lum\_s\_husband](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lum_s_husband)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/45 "2021-06-22T23:24:59Z")
That’s “dollarkilo” to you. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/46 "2021-06-22T23:31:33Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > It’s the void of space, all landmarks are abundantly evident > [@terentii](#): > > There are billions of stars in the Galaxy, each of which is following its own orbit around the core under the influence of multiple other factors. If you’re postulating FTL travel ala Star Trek, “astronavigation” really does consist of pointing the ship at the star you want to go to and running in a straight line until you get there. There is literally nothing in between. To “fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova” isn’t a real risk. You can see all the stars. Now, knowing where you ARE is an important part of astronavigation. But that’s a separate question. What is that I hear about small planetoids, rogue planets, space debris? That’s what your deflectors are for. If you can’t avoid a rock while going FTL you shouldn’t be allowed to fly. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2021, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/47 "2021-06-22T23:54:59Z")
> [@lum\_s\_husband](#): > > That’s “dollarkilo” to you. - In the “The Stainless Steel Rat” stories, the medium of exchange is the “buck”. Expensive things can cost into the “kilobucks”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/48 "2021-06-23T12:26:53Z")
That’s plausible. As I understand it, as of the founding of our country, the word “dollar” was a slang term used similarly to how “buck” is used now. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/49 "2021-06-23T12:29:45Z")
> **[DollarPound](https://reddwarf.fandom.com/wiki/DollarPound)** > > "That's a hundred DollarPounds down the crapper!" - Dave Lister, ("Trojan") DollarPound, also called a Dollar-pound, BuckQuid or QuidBuck (denoted by a "$£"), was the official currency throughout the Space Corps, as mentioned throughout both the Red... [https://www.google.com/search?q=origin+of+dollar&client=firefox-b-d&](https://www.google.com/search?q=origin+of+dollar&client=firefox-b-d&) [https://projects.exeter.ac.uk/RDavies/arian/dollar.html](https://projects.exeter.ac.uk/RDavies/arian/dollar.html) > **[Why Do We Call Dollars 'Bucks'?](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-do-we-call-dollars-bucks_n_5b32b4e0e4b0b745f178a273)** > > Inside the origin of the common slang term. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/50 "2021-06-23T12:31:58Z")
And people use “megabuck” in everyday speech today. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/51 "2021-06-23T17:53:11Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > Nevertheless, I find that it takes me out of the story a little bit, whenever I encounter “clever” substitutes for common words. That can be the case for me as well, but good innovative word invention can also make it more immersive. I’d have zero issues with astrogator and areologist. They make sense to me, and evidently areologist has made sense to areologists. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/52 "2021-06-23T17:56:25Z")
Larry Niven on the Words in Science Fiction [http://www.larryniven.net/stories/words.shtml](http://www.larryniven.net/stories/words.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/53 "2021-06-23T18:02:56Z")
I thought I had a good one for this thread. In the 2011 video game _Deus EX: Human Revolution_, at one point you can overhear two guards, and one asks the other for a “cigaweed,” which was just the most awful, artificial “futurespeak” I’d heard. Then I Googled it for this thread to make sure I remembered it right, and found out it was a pre-existing real life slang term. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/54 "2021-06-23T18:19:32Z")
Another Asimov coinage that feels clunky to me is “Computaplex” (for electronic computer, of course). ---
**Author:** ![eburacum\_45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum_45/32/3385_2.png) [@eburacum\_45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum_45)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/55 "2021-06-23T18:41:01Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > If you’re postulating FTL travel ala Star Trek, “astronavigation” really does consist of pointing the ship at the star you want to go to and running in a straight line until you get there On the other hand, a more realistic version of faster-than-light travel would also include the distinct possibility that you would arrive before you set off - thereby causing problems with causality and the potential for paradox. You need to ‘navigate’ in both time and space if you journey superluminally. There is a word for someone who travels in time - chrononaut. (first used 1963 by G. Fox, according to The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/56 "2021-06-23T21:34:53Z")
Unless your journey is instantaneous, you still have to figure out where your destination is going to be when you get there. And no matter how good your deflectors are, you’re still at risk of encountering something unforeseen and potentially hazardous. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2021, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/57 "2021-06-23T21:55:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Unless your journey is instantaneous, you still have to figure out where your destination is going to be when you get there. If my warp drive takes me to Vulcan, 40 Eridani (17 lt years) in two days, it is pretty much going to be where it looks like it is now. It’s not wandering randomly. It will have moved about 60M miles in the two days. That’s less than the uncertainty in where Vulcan is at in its orbit around the star. I can lead it. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/58 "2021-06-23T22:14:21Z")
Going strictly by your numbers for the proper motion of 40 Eridani (30 million miles a day), 40 Eridani is already over 186 billion miles right now from where it looks like it is here on Earth (where we are of course restricted to speed-of-light observations). By the standards of star travel using magic FTL drives, 186 billion miles and change may not be much; still, it’s over 2,000 times the distance from Earth to Sol. If whatever handwavium technology your FTL drive runs on requires you to, say, refuel very shortly after completing a “jump”, you _could_ be in trouble if you don’t compensate for that lag between your speed-of-light-limited astrometrical data, and where the 40 Eridani System will be this Friday afternoon. And 40 Eridani is quite close by, as these things go; if you’re headed to Rigel (860 light years from the Solar System\*) or Deneb (over 2,600 light years away\*) you could be off by up to several light years. Figuring for that sort of thing would presumably fall under the heading of _navigation_ or _astrogation_. \*These distances are still pretty approximate, too. Rigel is [actually listed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigel) as 860 ± 80 light years.; Deneb [is listed at](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deneb) 2,615 ± 215 light years, which are some pretty big uncertainties. Another place for astrogators to earn their pay. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599/59 "2021-06-24T10:12:37Z")
Unfortunately, I have forgotten the title or author of the story that was - to **me** - the source of the most difficult-to-figure-out word in all of science fiction. But I’m pretty confident that by simply mentioning the word, someone will provide the source. The word was “user”. I was aware that this story had many common English words with new meanings, but I couldn’t figure “user” out. I was probably 80% though the book when I realized that “user” meant “lover”, except that the sex was so physical and unemotional, that “love” was out of the picture; the two people were simply using each other, so the author called them “users”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unnecessary-words-used-in-science-fiction/944599.md?page=2)