OW! Language Abuse!

Ok.
Now you've done it. (Rant initiated...)

I am not a grammar nazi, or a stickler for perfect use of English, even though I was raised by an English Teacher and a Math Teacher (with a fetish for languages and etymology.)

To be fair, it does cause me to wince in pain at the misuse of the apostrophe and especially the misuse of the word "Nauseous." (Check your usage. The statement, "I am nauseous" means that you cause other people to feel the urge to vomit. It means "DISGUSTING" rather than "Disgusted." If you feel the urge to vomit or have vomited, the correct word for that is "Nauseated" or simply to state that you feel nausea.)

I am frequently amused by slang, and use it myself. I also love to seek out the original usage of the slang, and therefore understand it better.

And then I see some perfectly good slang getting twisted around by idiots. Particularly here in LJ, since once something is written down, it is somehow "true" or "real."

Do you want to know what's "climbing up my @ss" this week?

Fandom.

Let me explain what's bothering me, kids.

See, when referring to the SF/F fanbase which attended the SF/F conventions, one could not use the word "Con-dom" since that refers to a barrier method of contraceptive.
The word "Fandom" was born.
(Bonus points to anyone who can identify when and where and by whom that word was first used. Extra special sexy bonus points if you were a witness to the event.)
If you were someone who came to the cons, you were a Fan. (Capital "F")
Anything that seemed to relate to the lifestyle of the convention-goer was referred to as "Fannish."
Two plurals for "Fan" appeared: Fans and Fen. Most of the "cool kids" used the word "Fen."


Are you with me so far? Come along now. We're walking; we're walking...

Now, I don't know if Spider Robinson is the first person to do this, but I seem to remember encountering the use of the word “fiction” in something he wrote. It refers to a particular timeline, and is very useful for identifying which time-line one is currently fiddling about with in a story that deals with time travel. In "Back To The Future," Marty McFly leaves his original "Fiction" to go back in time and change the past. When he returns to the future, his whole life and circumstances have entirely changed. He returns to a NEW Fiction. I also ran across the use of the word “Fiction” to refer to a particular "universe" or "setting" or "Genre".

Both of these usages work well, and are elegant. For example: Aragorn is from the LOTR *Fiction*. Draco Malfoy is from an entirely different *FICTION* known as "Harry Potter." Fox Mulder comes from the "X-files" fiction. Freddy Kreuger is from the Horror Fiction.
In "Slash-fic" two fictions collide (Frequently with disastrous results.) On some occasions, other fictions collided and merged in ways that were startling and ultimately pleasing. I refer to Comic book crossovers, skillful parodies, and occasionally in the media of television and film.
I refer you to "Aliens Vs. Predator" which has already happened in Dark Horse Comics, and is coming to a screen near you. Those two stories were NOT originally intended to collide, but it all works out to be interesting and very cool (I hope.)

But these are examples of merging two FICTIONS, not two FANDOMS. For example, a crossover comic between Batman and Omaha the Cat Dancer does not merge two FANDOMS. It merges two FICTIONS.
Now, I am not saying that there won't be a growing-closer between fans of Omaha and fans of Batman. But combining the two stories does not automatically join the two fan bases, does it?


So now I see people referring to their "Fandoms" and using the word to mean both Fandom *AND* fiction.

And that's just plain sloppy, and incredibly LAZY.

Stop it!

In review:
Fiction: a Genre, or more correctly a specific universe within a genre.
Fandom: the people who like a specific genre (SF Fandom) or fiction (LOTR Fandom)

Please try to get it right, particularly when putting it into writing!
/rant