Jesse Sheidlower
@jessesheidlower.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Lexicographer. http://sfdictionary.com. The F-Word. Ex-OED. Past President, American Dialect Society. Adjunct at Columbia. Coder. Barbells. Threesome […]
[bridged from https://mastodon.social/@jessesheidlower on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
[bridged from https://mastodon.social/@jessesheidlower on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
Important #fandom antedating for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "SMOF", for Secret Master of Fandom, said to have been in use at the 1963 Worldcon, now has an actual example from 1963.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/197/smof
https://sfdictionary.com/view/197/smof
February 12, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Important #fandom antedating for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "SMOF", for Secret Master of Fandom, said to have been in use at the 1963 Worldcon, now has an actual example from 1963.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/197/smof
https://sfdictionary.com/view/197/smof
Antedating o'the day for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "actifan", fr 1941 to 1940 (ref to Forrest J. Ackerman).
Delighted to announce that this was sent in by Jeff Prucher, editor of the Hugo-winning Brave New Words, who is contributing once again! […]
Delighted to announce that this was sent in by Jeff Prucher, editor of the Hugo-winning Brave New Words, who is contributing once again! […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
February 9, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Antedating o'the day for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "actifan", fr 1941 to 1940 (ref to Forrest J. Ackerman).
Delighted to announce that this was sent in by Jeff Prucher, editor of the Hugo-winning Brave New Words, who is contributing once again! […]
Delighted to announce that this was sent in by Jeff Prucher, editor of the Hugo-winning Brave New Words, who is contributing once again! […]
More new entries for interstellar-travel fans, in the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: Today's batch: "Arcturan" + vars., with 2 nouns +1 adj. From 1920 onwards, still in broad use.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3061/arcturan
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3066/arcturan […]
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3061/arcturan
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3066/arcturan […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
February 5, 2026 at 3:07 PM
More new entries for interstellar-travel fans, in the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: Today's batch: "Arcturan" + vars., with 2 nouns +1 adj. From 1920 onwards, still in broad use.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3061/arcturan
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3066/arcturan […]
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3061/arcturan
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3066/arcturan […]
New entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "bemmy", a hypocoristic form of everyone's favorite alien-related term "BEM" (bug-eyed monster). From the late '40s; popularized in Andre Norton's Star Rangers; still in use.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3054/bemmy
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3054/bemmy
Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction: bemmy
Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
sfdictionary.com
January 30, 2026 at 3:26 PM
New entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "bemmy", a hypocoristic form of everyone's favorite alien-related term "BEM" (bug-eyed monster). From the late '40s; popularized in Andre Norton's Star Rangers; still in use.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3054/bemmy
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3054/bemmy
Today's update for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "Galactic", for a language spoken throughout a galaxy. Was 1954; added several early-1950s quotes in different nuances. Other cleanup and linking as well.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/1633/galactic
https://sfdictionary.com/view/1633/galactic
January 28, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Today's update for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "Galactic", for a language spoken throughout a galaxy. Was 1954; added several early-1950s quotes in different nuances. Other cleanup and linking as well.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/1633/galactic
https://sfdictionary.com/view/1633/galactic
New entries for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction! The group of "Capellan" entries, referring to those from the Capella system (the star in Auriga). From the 1920s, still in use.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3063/capellan
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3064/capellan […]
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3063/capellan
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3064/capellan […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
January 27, 2026 at 3:21 PM
New entries for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction! The group of "Capellan" entries, referring to those from the Capella system (the star in Auriga). From the 1920s, still in use.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3063/capellan
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3064/capellan […]
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3063/capellan
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3064/capellan […]
Today's antedating for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "Terrestrial", for a (universal) language spoken on Earth, from 1944 to 1936.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2789/terrestrial
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2789/terrestrial
January 22, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Today's antedating for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "Terrestrial", for a (universal) language spoken on Earth, from 1944 to 1936.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2789/terrestrial
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2789/terrestrial
New entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "Uranian", for the language of Uranus. Had been jammed into the existing entry, but we upgraded it. From 1941 and still out there.
We have a lot of demonyms and language terms in the pipeline.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3062/uranian
We have a lot of demonyms and language terms in the pipeline.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3062/uranian
January 20, 2026 at 3:29 PM
New entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "Uranian", for the language of Uranus. Had been jammed into the existing entry, but we upgraded it. From 1941 and still out there.
We have a lot of demonyms and language terms in the pipeline.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3062/uranian
We have a lot of demonyms and language terms in the pipeline.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3062/uranian
Hello! We have a whopping _three_ new entries for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction, all pertaining to critters from Deneb. 1940s onwards, common '50s, now rarer, like many such terms.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2759/denebian
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2760/denebian […]
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2759/denebian
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2760/denebian […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
January 15, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Hello! We have a whopping _three_ new entries for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction, all pertaining to critters from Deneb. 1940s onwards, common '50s, now rarer, like many such terms.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2759/denebian
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2760/denebian […]
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2759/denebian
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2760/denebian […]
Big antedating for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "Venerian", the language of Venerians (i.e. those from Venus), from 1948 to 1930. This is pretty much dead after the 1950s, so we'd be grateful for any postdatings too.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/397/venerian
https://sfdictionary.com/view/397/venerian
Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction: Venerian
Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
sfdictionary.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Big antedating for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "Venerian", the language of Venerians (i.e. those from Venus), from 1948 to 1930. This is pretty much dead after the 1950s, so we'd be grateful for any postdatings too.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/397/venerian
https://sfdictionary.com/view/397/venerian
Never too early to start teaching the young about automatic memory management.
January 12, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Never too early to start teaching the young about automatic memory management.
Fascinating antedating for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "edisonade", John Clute's term for a proto-SF story abt a young inventor. Clute had previously told us that he coined this for the Encyclopedia of SF, but he actually used it 3 years earlier! […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
January 9, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Fascinating antedating for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "edisonade", John Clute's term for a proto-SF story abt a young inventor. Clute had previously told us that he coined this for the Encyclopedia of SF, but he actually used it 3 years earlier! […]
New entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "space legs", bodily comfort in space, after "sea legs". From 1936, including a 1964 example from Anaïs Nin describing an LSD trip! Been meaning to publish this one for a while.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/1293/space-legs
https://sfdictionary.com/view/1293/space-legs
January 8, 2026 at 3:27 PM
New entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "space legs", bodily comfort in space, after "sea legs". From 1936, including a 1964 example from Anaïs Nin describing an LSD trip! Been meaning to publish this one for a while.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/1293/space-legs
https://sfdictionary.com/view/1293/space-legs
Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction update: lots of holiday coding for a small benefit, but pseudonyms are now handled better. You can look up e.g. Andrew North or Will Atheling, and get those as well as x-r's to Andrew Norton and James Blish. Still adding more; feedback welcome!
January 6, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction update: lots of holiday coding for a small benefit, but pseudonyms are now handled better. You can look up e.g. Andrew North or Will Atheling, and get those as well as x-r's to Andrew Norton and James Blish. Still adding more; feedback welcome!
In a Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction discovery so dull that I'm burying it in the holiday news cycle, we have a four-year antedating of the rare _Callistan_ (the language of Callisto), from John W. Campbell:
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2606/callistan
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2606/callistan
December 30, 2025 at 2:09 PM
In a Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction discovery so dull that I'm burying it in the holiday news cycle, we have a four-year antedating of the rare _Callistan_ (the language of Callisto), from John W. Campbell:
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2606/callistan
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2606/callistan
Because we all need a bit of optimism, today's new entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction is "solarpunk". Apparently coined in a 2008 blog post; most recent example from @clive. A few more of this sort are in the queue.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2916/solarpunk
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2916/solarpunk
December 17, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Because we all need a bit of optimism, today's new entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction is "solarpunk". Apparently coined in a 2008 blog post; most recent example from @clive. A few more of this sort are in the queue.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2916/solarpunk
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2916/solarpunk
Meanwhile, reports are in that John Varley has died.
We have a lot of quotations from him in the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction, and he is credited as being the originator of four terms: cryosuspension, cyborg (v.), cyborged, and nearside (n.) […]
We have a lot of quotations from him in the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction, and he is credited as being the originator of four terms: cryosuspension, cyborg (v.), cyborged, and nearside (n.) […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
December 11, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Meanwhile, reports are in that John Varley has died.
We have a lot of quotations from him in the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction, and he is credited as being the originator of four terms: cryosuspension, cyborg (v.), cyborged, and nearside (n.) […]
We have a lot of quotations from him in the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction, and he is credited as being the originator of four terms: cryosuspension, cyborg (v.), cyborged, and nearside (n.) […]
New entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: William Gibson's "Raygun Gothic". Will be adding other retrofuturistic style terms in the near future.
Would be grateful for any pre-2008 examples _not_ referring to the original story.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3043/raygun-gothic
Would be grateful for any pre-2008 examples _not_ referring to the original story.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3043/raygun-gothic
Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction: Raygun Gothic
Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction
sfdictionary.com
December 11, 2025 at 3:39 PM
New entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: William Gibson's "Raygun Gothic". Will be adding other retrofuturistic style terms in the near future.
Would be grateful for any pre-2008 examples _not_ referring to the original story.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3043/raygun-gothic
Would be grateful for any pre-2008 examples _not_ referring to the original story.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3043/raygun-gothic
While we're publishing massive antedatings of Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction entries from proto-SF sources, here are two for _Lunarian_ adj. from Daniel Defoe (yes, that one):
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2329/lunarian
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2329/lunarian
December 4, 2025 at 2:27 PM
While we're publishing massive antedatings of Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction entries from proto-SF sources, here are two for _Lunarian_ adj. from Daniel Defoe (yes, that one):
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2329/lunarian
https://sfdictionary.com/view/2329/lunarian
I'm happy to announce a 112-year antedating of _Jovian_ 'an inhabitant of Jupiter' for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction, from Miles Wilson's proto-SF _History of Israel Jobson_ (1757):
https://sfdictionary.com/view/140/jovian
https://sfdictionary.com/view/140/jovian
December 3, 2025 at 2:20 PM
I'm happy to announce a 112-year antedating of _Jovian_ 'an inhabitant of Jupiter' for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction, from Miles Wilson's proto-SF _History of Israel Jobson_ (1757):
https://sfdictionary.com/view/140/jovian
https://sfdictionary.com/view/140/jovian
If you need a break from , you can distract yourself w/two new fandom entries in the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "newfan" & its frequent plural "newfen"! Both from 1945 onwards, the former now rare.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3036/newfan […]
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3036/newfan […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
October 30, 2025 at 3:40 PM
If you need a break from , you can distract yourself w/two new fandom entries in the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "newfan" & its frequent plural "newfen"! Both from 1945 onwards, the former now rare.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3036/newfan […]
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3036/newfan […]
Helpful comment of the day, found in a test:
like($date, qr/^20/, "get_end_date will return a (probably current) date if nothing is passed in"); # N.B. this test will fail in 77 years
like($date, qr/^20/, "get_end_date will return a (probably current) date if nothing is passed in"); # N.B. this test will fail in 77 years
October 27, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Helpful comment of the day, found in a test:
like($date, qr/^20/, "get_end_date will return a (probably current) date if nothing is passed in"); # N.B. this test will fail in 77 years
like($date, qr/^20/, "get_end_date will return a (probably current) date if nothing is passed in"); # N.B. this test will fail in 77 years
New entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "Encyclopedia Galactica", prominently (though not originally) in Asimov's Foundation series, but also in HHGTTG, Carl Sagan, _Contact_, & more. We love reference works of all kinds! […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
October 16, 2025 at 2:39 PM
New entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "Encyclopedia Galactica", prominently (though not originally) in Asimov's Foundation series, but also in HHGTTG, Carl Sagan, _Contact_, & more. We love reference works of all kinds! […]
New entries for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: the "retro-futurism" terms, chiefly to support upcoming entries. Mostly based on the OED entries (though "-futurist" is an antedating). 1980s onwards.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3045/retro-futurism […]
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3045/retro-futurism […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
October 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
New entries for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: the "retro-futurism" terms, chiefly to support upcoming entries. Mostly based on the OED entries (though "-futurist" is an antedating). 1980s onwards.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3045/retro-futurism […]
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3045/retro-futurism […]
For you conspiracy-theory fans, a very important new entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "medbed", in use regularly since the late 1980s:
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3049/medbed
(We do not discuss the conspiracy-theory stuff; that's not our jam.)
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3049/medbed
(We do not discuss the conspiracy-theory stuff; that's not our jam.)
October 2, 2025 at 1:57 PM
For you conspiracy-theory fans, a very important new entry for the Historical #dictionary of #sciencefiction: "medbed", in use regularly since the late 1980s:
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3049/medbed
(We do not discuss the conspiracy-theory stuff; that's not our jam.)
https://sfdictionary.com/view/3049/medbed
(We do not discuss the conspiracy-theory stuff; that's not our jam.)