elfism

elfism

English

Etymology

elf +‎ -ism

Noun

elfism (countable and uncountable, plural elfisms)

1. The belief in elves as supernatural beings.
   • 1853, J. T. Headley, Friendship's Memorial for 1853, page 189:

     A writer during the reign of Elizabeth, or soon after, supposed to be no less a personage than the Bishop of Oxford, has, in an ingenious satire, quoted by Sir Walter Scott in his excellent work on Demonology, fixed the period of the decline of elfism - if our readers will tolerate the word — in the latter part of the sixteenth century.

   • 1997 October 15, cra...voicenet.com, “What is Atheism Really?”, in talk.religion.misc, Usenet‎:

     You've demonstrated that theism is more popular than elfism, but that does not mean one is a more valid or reasonable position.

   • 2000, George H. Smith, Why Atheism?, page 33:

     This means that elfism cannot be falsified, even in principle, because failure to perceive these elves (who are, after all, invisible) can always be blamed on one's lack of faith.

   • 2001 April 1, MEow, “Athiest^[sic] - definition thereof”, in alt.atheism, Usenet‎:

     Nope - Someone telling me about his or her deity/ies does not make me a theist - it does not convince me. For someone to become a theist, they will have to become convinced that there is a deity - If I informed you about the tiny, little elf in my closet - would that make you an elfist? Hopefully you'd still lack elfism despite my "informing" you.

   • 2010 March 16, “Good Without God?”, in Topher the Atheist‎:

     On a side note, I often wonder if 2000 years from now after some cataclysmic some archaeologist will dig up a copy of the Lord of the Rings and read it and go, "Holy crap, I found the history of the world!" and then start converting people to Hobbitism and Elfism and study the languages in there.

   • 2012, Phoebe Mills, “Disbelief and Belief”, in Young Southern Student Writers, Brewer Media Group, page 240:

     Emma had never believed in Sant^[sic] - if he was truly real, the North Pole would have to be in China because all the toys that "Santa" brings, somewhere or other have a tag that says "Made in China." Even a few days earlier, her friend whose elf visits her every Christmas had tried to convert Emma to Elfism.
     "What would it mean if the elf got to your house in two days?" her friend had said. Emma's frank response had been:
     "It would mean my parents had paid for extra fast shipping!" And Emma had not changed her mind since.

2. An elflike saying, based on fictional depictions such as the movie Elf or puns on the word elf.
   • 2003, Elf‎, spoken by Papa Elf (Bob Newhart), opening scene of film:

     Elves love to tell stories. I'll bet you didn't know that about elves. There's probably a lot of things you didn't know about elves. Another interesting elf-ism: there are only three jobs available to an elf. The first is making shoes at night while, you know, the old cobbler sleeps.

   • 2011 December, Phyllis Benson, “December Almanac”, in Journal Plus, San Luis Obispo, OCLC 503163752, page 46, column 2:

     Elfism: If Santa rode a motorcycle, it would be a Holly Davidson.

   • 2013, Matthew Epps, 11 Mike: Memoirs of a Mechanized Infantryman, Lulu.com:

     I still know every line of dialog from “Elf” by heart. We even added a few “elfisms” to our daily vocabulary. “I love dodging mortars. It's my favorite!” “I like your outfit today. It's very camouflagey.”

   • 2014 July 16, “Elfisms..... it never stops”, in Me and My Elf‎, archived from the original on 2022-05-27:

     [see title]

   • 2016 December, “In the Nick of Time... Stirring up your gifts!”, in VIPSEEN, Kingsport, TN: Angela Baker, page 26:

     ELF-ISM NUMBER 4: "Saddle up the reindeer and let's ride."

   • 2017 November 5, Pam Dana, “Elf on the Shelf Printable Elfisms”, in Over The Big Moon‎, archived from the original on 2021-03-09:

     I decided to take my favorite”elfisms” ^[sic] from the movie and turn them into printable cards for all you Elf on the Shelf lovers.

3. The quality or state of being elflike; elfishness.
   • 1930, Rowe Wright, ‎C Francis Loomis, ‎Marta Katrina Sironen, Everygirl's Magazine ... - Volumes 18-19, page 30:

     "Well, my dears, I have had a passion to express all the Kewpish babyism and elfism in the dolls as well as in the drawings, the wisdom, the kind funniness, the funny kindness."

   • 1998, Bob Litak, ‎Christine Hilt Muehlenberg, Reflections of a Small Town Santa, page 57:

     Anne and I gave Jackie some last minute instructions on “Elfdom” (Or, is it “Elfism?”) and how she should act. She took them to heart and her performance that day was incredible.

   • 2005, A. A. Wolfner, ‎Alan J. Vekich, Ivory Sword: The Lore of Dayone, page 226:

     Under his breath, he muttered, “minimal as their Elfism might be.” He raised his voice. “No, it was Half-elves, Zuebotschniks, little known to the Empire at the time. Actually, the Half-elves would think it's 'indecent.' […] "

   • 2016, Anthony Mercier, Akin Minds: Hierarchy of Lars, Xlibris:

     Kai raised his glance to mine, aghast. “Why, with the different species thing again?” he demanded. “Can you spread elf-ism by bite, too?”

   • 2016 May, Mendoman, “Face "Golden ratio"”, in Daz 3D Forums‎:

     The ears are very pronounced, with an "elfism" that detracts from her overall appearance, and make her look "funny" or unappealing.