S
SimpleLogic
Guest
I thought we all decided just to be Spiner-Fems, and to forget the whole Trekkie/Trekker debackle.
I thought we all decided just to be Spiner-Fems, and to forget the whole Trekkie/Trekker debackle.
AFAIC, the "Trekkie" has always been a more juvenile distinction from "Trekker" (like a fan who just loves it, versus a fan who is more serious). But, if someone calls me either one, I don't really mind.![]()
Kind of sad that fans didn't just decide to stick with the original term and own it.
THIS x 10. I love that video AND Shatner's Get a Life skit from 1986.Trekkies laugh at this...
Trekkers are FURIOUS
(although at the video or JJ Abrams for making the movie I'm not sure!)
QFT, and one of the main reasons I'd rather be called a Trekkie.As others have pointed out, "trekker" was just invented because the term "trekkie" had come to have a negative connotation. Kind of sad that fans didn't just decide to stick with the original term and own it.
When TNG came along, many people felt like me and coined the term Trekker.
This is incorrect.
The term trekker dates from 1970, and it is evidently due to Carol Pruitt. From Boldly Writing: A Trekker Fan & Zine History, 1967-1987, by Joan Marie Verba, page 4:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trekkie#Trekkie_vs._TrekkerThe May issue of Deck 6 [issue #8, in 1970] saw a very early distinction between the terms "trekkie" and "trekker." Carol Pruitt, the editor, said in part, "...when I start acting like a bubbleheaded trekkie (rather than a sober, dignified—albeit enthusiastic—trekker)." (Some fans think the distinction between the terms is a more recent phenomenon, but Deck 6 shows that fans were making that distinction over 30 years ago.)
http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/201
http://fanlore.org/wiki/Deck_6
When TNG came along, many people felt like me and coined the term Trekker.
This is incorrect.
The term trekker dates from 1970, and it is evidently due to Carol Pruitt. From Boldly Writing: A Trekker Fan & Zine History, 1967-1987, by Joan Marie Verba, page 4:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trekkie#Trekkie_vs._TrekkerThe May issue of Deck 6 [issue #8, in 1970] saw a very early distinction between the terms "trekkie" and "trekker." Carol Pruitt, the editor, said in part, "...when I start acting like a bubbleheaded trekkie (rather than a sober, dignified—albeit enthusiastic—trekker)." (Some fans think the distinction between the terms is a more recent phenomenon, but Deck 6 shows that fans were making that distinction over 30 years ago.)
http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/201
http://fanlore.org/wiki/Deck_6
You're absolutely correct about "trekker" predating TNG by a good many years. But I did not invent either of those words, I merely used them in my newszine DECK 6, thus inadvertently establishing them as already current in 1970. As a matter of fact, Linda Stanley explained "trekker" and "trekkie" to me at St. Louiscon in 1969 (though she didn't claim to have coined them either).
At that time, old-line SF fans were seeing their cons "invaded" by hordes of Trek fans, to many of whom SF was synonymous with Trek. It was my impression that "trekkie" was their derogatory word for us, and "trekker" was our attempt to salvage some dignity. That's probably an oversimplification, though, because both words predate my involvement in organized fandom.
Trekkies are fans.
Trekkers are people who are ashamed of star trek.
Versus:"I'm going to see the new Star Trek movie tonight."
"Oh, are you a Trekkie?"
"Yep, I'm a big fan."
"I'm going to see the new Star Trek movie tonight."
"Oh, are you a Trekkie?"
"No, I'm a Trekker."
"Um, what?"
"You see, a Trekkie is a childish person while a Trekker is a mature fan. The Trekkie is passive while the Trekker is on the journey. Please don't call me a Trekkie; Trekker is the term preferred by serious people."
"[speechless]"
Bizarrely, a relative actually asked me if I was a "Trekker" this weekend. I was surprised that he'd even heard the term, which I didn't think was used outside fannish circles.
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