What's the difference between a trekkie and a trekker?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by RB_Kandy, Sep 7, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. RandyS

    RandyS Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2007
    Location:
    Randyland
    Trekkers get girls.

    Trekkies don't.

    ;)
     
  2. Granola Gwen

    Granola Gwen Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    May 13, 2015
    Location:
    the realms of the galaxy
    It's just all so messy to me, I rather just be called a fan of Star Trek.
     
  3. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2004
    Location:
    Lancaster, PA
    I beg to differ. :)
     
  4. Ithekro

    Ithekro Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2012
    Location:
    Republic of California
    I didn't hear the term "trekkers" until after TNG was on the air.

    I heard of "trekkie" around the time of TWOK, and I think it was out of Leonard Nimoy's mouth.
     
  5. Autistoid

    Autistoid Captain

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2015
    Trekkies are fans of the show, they can name most episodes by name, and they can explain certain production decisions like giving klingons forehead ridges.


    Trekkers are fans of the federation and the universe it exists in. They will argue the merits of a utopian society based on a premise of man using self betterment as a motivation. When the issues of klingon forehead ridges being present they'll have 100 different scenarios explaining how they came about.


    I'm without question, I see the show has a bottleneck in my appreciate of the federation universe.

    That being said I think trekkie is far better sounding. It's the more popular and common word. Plus trekker sounds way to serious kinda like stargate fans calling themselves gaters.

    However Trekker is a verb and trekkie is closer to an adjective. Trekkers build a fictional universe in their mind while trekkies are simply fans.
     
  6. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2004
    Location:
    Lancaster, PA
    The real problem with the whole "trekker" vs. "trekkie" thing is that invariably it's used as a club to run down the "wrong" kind of fan. And as a way of distancing oneself from, you know, those "other" fans . . .. the ones we don't want to be associated with.

    It's too often all about setting up some sort of hierarchy of Trek fandom, in which some Trek fans are more Trekkish than others.
     
  7. K'Toska

    K'Toska Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2015
    Location:
    formerly JadziaDax
    Everyone else has pretty much summed up the supposed differences in the terms. Personally, I call myself a Trekkie. I don't care if that gets me lumped in with a group stereotyped as lonely virgins who focus too much on technical details. None of that describes really me but I am an unabashed Star Trek fan and I don't give a shit who knows or what they have to say about it. Star Trek has changed my perception of a lot of things. Doctor Who did as well when I was watching it but not to the same degree. I've had people delete me from Facebook because I post too much Trek stuff lol. At the same time, I also got a friend into it because of those posts sooo. "Trekker" sounds pretentious to me and my love for Trek is without pretentiousness - I want everyone to give it a shot.
     
  8. Kilana2

    Kilana2 Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2015
    Location:
    Kilana2
    Trekker simply doesn't sound right to me. It was always Trekkie. It didn't know the term Trekker until I came here (and I was a lurker for several years).
     
  9. SpocksOddSocks

    SpocksOddSocks Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    May 30, 2015
    Location:
    SpocksOddSocks
    I pretty much share this view. I always saw the term Trekker as being a misguided and ineffective attempt to counter the stereotype of a Star Trek fan. In reality, the the attempt just reinforced that view and gave the naysayers another weapon in their arsenal of ridicule.
     
  10. Chronos

    Chronos Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2015
    The only way to tell which camp a given fan is a member of is to call them a Trekkie.

    If they angrily correct you, they're a Trekker.

    If they don't seem to mind, they're probably a much more fun person to be around because they don't get caught up in silly things like whether they're a Trekkie or a Trekker.
     
  11. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2011
    Location:
    astral plane
    So, trekkies are trekkier than trekkers, and trekkers are trekkerer than trekkies?!?
     
  12. bbailey861

    bbailey861 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2009
    Location:
    Kingston, ON Canada
    You are sooooo wrong, Bubba.

    I am a Trekkie and I got the girl. I could not have done better. Put up with decades of me being a soldier and gone all the time, gave me three great kids, and more memories than my little brain can handle. (I saw the wink, but I had to say it!)

    On a more serious note, I think it is more of an age thing - or maybe an insecurity thing. I have no issue being a Trekkie. I have no negative connotations associated with it.
     
  13. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 25, 2002
    Location:
    United States
    Sir, he specifically requested two Trekkers? Well, to tell the family secret, my grandmother was Dutch.
     
  14. MANT!

    MANT! Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2005
    Location:
    in Atomo-vision
    Both groups think the following is funny..

    [yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd5yB9Vmd6I[/yt]
     
  15. Mojochi

    Mojochi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2007
    A trekker is one who treks. A Trekkie is one who is either trekked upon or upon whom a trek is bestowed. It's more "logical" to apply the term Trekker to someone like Nichelle Nichols, who is one who trekked the Trek. Some fan who buys DVDs or attends conventions ought more appropriately be referred to as a Trekkie, like a hippie, or a yuppie. Frankly, the term Trekker applied to fans always seem disingenuous, the way hipster does, compared to hippie.

    That is how it always seemed to me, & as a fan from way back in the 70s, when Trekkie was the most common term, I'll always identify with that, despite whether it may carry disparaging connotations. In fact, that gives it even more affinity for me, not all that dissimilar to how the N-word has evolved culturally.

    Where my Trekkies be at?
     
  16. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2012
    Location:
    JirinPanthosa
    A Trekker is a Trekkie who is self conscious.
     
  17. Kal

    Kal Ensign Newbie

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2015
    Location:
    large town surrounded by farms.
    I was always under the belief that Trekker was created as a one off line in a movie designed to 'humorously' show Trek fans being cranky and uptight, because I certainly never thought about it before then. But since were talking about it, I call my self a fan, and if we need a united name, my votes on 'Hufflepuffs', just to confuse everyone :D
     
  18. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2004
    Location:
    Lancaster, PA
    You know, fans of "Carmilla" (the vampire webseries) call themselves "Creampuffs."

    I wonder if someday people will insist that "Carmels" is a more "dignified" term. :)
     
  19. Sector 7

    Sector 7 Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2008
    Location:
    Rural North Carolina
    LAUGHED. MY. ASS. OFF. !!!!. :guffaw::guffaw::guffaw::guffaw:
     
  20. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2012
    Location:
    JirinPanthosa
    Trekkies invented the word Trekker because they felt insecure about being associated with other Trekkies.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.