In article
,
"GeneK" genek_hates_spammers.com> wrote:
> "Wiseguy"
yahoo.com> wrote in message >> The way I remember it is sometime in the mid-seventies, either during or
>> not long after the animated series, serious fans of Star Trek wanted to
>> distance themselves from a) the fans (and not necessarily just children)
>> who put on Spock ears and pointed plastic phasers at everyone and b)
>> non-fans who denigrated both Trekkies and the term itself. Hence, the
>> word Trekker was born. It never completely replaced Trekkie and it had
>> nothing to do with the motion pictures and certainly not The Next
>> Generation which was more than a decade away.
>
> My recollection is somewhat different. The term "trekkie"
> was originally science-fiction con speak, and was a
> derisive term for people who attended the cons because
> they liked Star Trek, but who were otherwise not particularly
> fans of science fiction in general.
It was also used for little kids running around, and pre teen girls
hoping to 'grok Spock' - but it was always an insult.
>
> When the first Star Trek con opened, someone said, "the
> trekkies have their own con now," and the media picked
Specifically TV Guide
> up the term and ran with it, concentrating of course on the
> fans with the rubber ears and toy props. The fans soon
> divided into two camps: those who took their fandom
> very... seriously, and were insulted by the coverage, and
> those who shrugged and said, "sure, the rubber ears are
> absurd, so what?" The first camp coined the supposedly
> more dignified "trekker" and started applying it to them-
I read an origin of "Trekker" once. A PBS station was doing a
documentary on Trek cons and the con people were horrified to find out
they were using the term Trekkie. They objected and were asked 'what DO
you call yourselves?' The reply was 'nothing, we know who we are' PBS
found this inadequate. So the con people rallied and came up with
'Trekker' and submitted it to PBS, who replied "too late, we've already
made up the title cards"
> selves, and the second said, "ok, whatever," and used
> both terms interchangably. Things continued this way
> until Shatner's SNL "Get a Life" sketch. " Trekkers" were
Here we vary. I'd say Trekkers rolled in the aisles and Trekkies didn't
get it.
> insulted by it, "trekkies" rolled in the aisles and said, "hey,
> I resemble that remark," and since then, "trekkers" think
> "trekkies" are loonies and "trekkies" think "trekkers" are
> humorless snobs who could stand to let some looniness
> into their fandom.
>
> GeneK
--
Multiple root canals; hopped up on multiple pain drugs.
It's an explanation, not an excuse!
