Merriam-Webster Adds ‘Fan Fiction’

Among the many words you can use to accurately describe me is logophile.  I love me some words.

So when Merriam-Webster adds its new yearly round-up of newly-legitimised words, I like to check them out.

What does this year bring us?

Some interesting and evocative ones like ‘waterboarding’, ‘staycation’, and ‘frenemy’.

Oh.  And ‘fan fiction‘, defined as:

stories involving popular fictional characters that are written by fans and often posted on the Internet —called also fan fic

They do list the term as originating in 1944, so it’s taken them a good long while to get around to adding it to the dictionary, but I can’t help but feel a moment of fangirl pride over this.  I was just discussing earlier today with some lovely fellow fangirls (more to come about that meet-up later on) how pleasing it is to feel like we fen are a more and more accepted—sometimes even catered-to—demographic.

There have been an increasing number of news stories about fanfic from so-called legitimate sources (like this one from The Guardian or this one from The Times), and while they may not always express opinions about fandom and fen that I particularly agree with, I’m heartened to see that we’re being given some (digital) column inches instead of staying tucked away in the closet.

So, thanks, Merriam-Webster.  Thanks a bundle for this one.

Advertisement