slanhood

slanhood

English

WOTD – 4 May 2020

Etymology

From slan (“fan of science fiction”) +‎ -hood (suffix denoting a condition or state of being). Slan is from the title of the science fiction novel Slan (1940) by Canadian-born author A. E. van Vogt (1912–2000), about persecuted – yet physically, mentally and morally superior – telepathic mutant humans.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈslænhʊd/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ænhʊd
• Hyphenation: slan‧hood

Noun

slanhood (uncountable)

1. (fandom slang, dated) The state of being a science fiction fan.
   • 1944, John Bristol Speer, “slan”, in Fancyclopedia‎, Los Angeles, Calif.: Forrest J[ames] Ackerman, OCLC 3049448, archived from the original on 21 April 2020, page 81, column 1:

     Because the central character in the story [Slan (1940) by A. E. van Vogt] was a youth in unsympathetic surroundings, and because of the obvious similarities to fans' dreams of greatness, the unserious claim to slanhood has become the Third Fandom parallel to the Second Fandom's half-serious Star-Begotten claims.

   • 1997 October 29, Dave Locke, “Re: The Good Ol’ ‘Write-In’ Ballot”, in rec.arts.sf.fandom, Usenet‎, retrieved 16 November 2016, message-ID <[e-mail]>:

     In the specific focus of providing a reference who can verify your tenured slanhood to the administrators, let's set the record straight and let's get very real and very clear about something here.

   • 2002, Justine Larbalestier, “Faithful to Thee, Terra, in Our Fashion”, in The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (Wesleyan Early Classics of Science Fiction), Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, →ISBN, page 35:

     This sense of difference was summed up in the well-known fan slogan that serves as an epigraph to this section, "Fans are slans." The Fancyclopedia describes the importance of this notion of "slanhood": [...]

   • 2005 November 22, “Cliffy”, “My Students Can’t Name 3 First Amendment Rights: Sad or Normal?”, in Straight Dope Message Board, The Straight Dope‎, archived from the original on 16 July 2018:

     Believe you me, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst the other members of the class. But I happily wallowed in my slanhood.

Related terms

• fans are slans
• slan
• slan center
• slannish
• slanshack

 

Translations

state of being a science fiction fan

Further reading

• Slan on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Jeff Prucher, editor (2007), “slan, n.”, in Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 187, column 2.

Anagrams

• Hand Solo