Newest Quotations
| Word | Quotation | Date Added |
| Miskatonic adj. | 1973 (title of fanzine) The Miskatonic. | 2026-05-14 |
| Miskatonic adj. | [1920 The Picture in the House (manuscript) 2 I had been travelling for some time amongst the people of the Miskatonic Valley in quest of certain genealogical data; and from the remote, devious and problematical nature of my course, had deemed in convenient to employ a bicycle despite the lateness of the season.] | 2026-05-14 |
| Miskatonic adj. | 1941 Out of the Jar in Stirring Science Stories 19 Feb. 103/1 Halpin, at this time, was still under thirty, yet he had become already a recognized authority in this country of that queer borderland of mystic occult study that Churchward, Fort, Lovecraft and the Miskatonic school represent. | 2026-05-14 |
| Miskatonic adj. | 1963 Nottingham Evening Post & News 19 Sept. 12/4 This contains stories mainly by authors under the patronage of his own publishing firm, Arkham House, started primarily to issue the works of Lovecraft and other writers of the so-called ‘Miskatonic’ school. | 2026-05-14 |
| Miskatonic adj. | 1969 Famous Monsters of Filmland (#55) May 11/2 ‘It’s a wise Thing that knows its own mother’ — Old Miskatonic Adage. | 2026-05-14 |
| Miskatonic adj. | 1991 Comic Buyer’s Guide 18 Oct. 26/3 The characters belong to a group known as the Miskatonic Project, named after Lovecraft’s fictional New England school, Miskatonic University. | 2026-05-14 |
| Miskatonic adj. | 1992 H. P. Lovecraft—An Avenue in S. Dwyer Rapid Eye 2 74 If Cthulhu and the Old Ones were Lovecraft’s ACTIVE agents of terror, then the passive agent was surely the Arkham/Dunwich/Miskatonic landscape in which they operated. | 2026-05-14 |
| Miskatonic adj. | 2014 et al. Mythos Expeditions: Trail of Cthulhu (game manual) 28/1 It also adds other significant dates in Miskatonic history and the Mythos during this period. | 2026-05-14 |
| Miskatonic adj. | 2018 Dan’s Papers 25 May 142/3 Congrats to former Dan’s Papers editor Valerie San Filippo upon her receipt of the inaugural Miskatonic Scholarship for horror writers, founded to help a horror writer to attend the Odyssey Writing Workshop, the acclaimed, six-week residential writers training program in Manchester, New Hampshire. | 2026-05-14 |
| Miskatonic adj. | 2021 Rue Morgue Sept.–Oct. 55/1 The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies offers horror history, theory and production classes with regular branches in London, New York, Los Angeles, and online. | 2026-05-14 |
| sercon adj. | 1955 The Leather Couch in Psychotic (#18) Jan.–Feb. (unpaged) Two days ago I received a letter from Boyd Raeburn in which he defines his impression of a serious-constructive fanzine and wants me to please not make PSY into such a horrible thing. Since he associated a SerCon fanzine with fuggheadedness, I assured him that I had no intention of running a zine of that type. I ain't no fugghead. | 2026-05-13 |
| sercon n. | 1956 Strange Fruit in Yandro (#40) May 13 One of the most entertaining club o-o’s [sc. official organ (of a fan club)] ever published, CRY is a nice mixture of sercon and humor. | 2026-05-13 |
| romantasy n. | [1928 Pittsburgh Press 16 May 24/4 (advt.) Every hostess knows Blue Willow, the lovers fleeing across the bridge, the turtle doves and all the other romantasies. ] | 2026-05-13 |
| semiprozine n. | 2023 About the Authors and Translators in The Big Book of Cyberpunk 1095 David Langford…. His twenty-nine Hugo awards span several categories: fanzine and semiprozine for the science fiction newsletter Ansible. | 2026-05-12 |
| semiprozine n. | 1995 Awards Fever in SFX (#2) July 39/3 Or there’s Semiprozine, a bastard Hugo category invented to stop commercial SF newsletters like Locus winning the Hugo for Best (amateur) Fanzine. | 2026-05-12 |
| semiprozine n. | 1965 SF in Japan in Niekas (#14) Dec. 38 I am afraid that my Uchujin is no longer a fanzine, but a semi-prozine at the middle of pro-writers and fans. | 2026-05-12 |
| semiprozine n. | 1953 Index to Advertisers in Operation Fantast Handbook 1953 64 FANTASTIC WORLDS…(semi-prozine). | 2026-05-12 |
| semiprozine n. | 1946 The Blatant Beast in Fantasy Advertiser Nov. 39 Alas, this is the last issue of this sterling publication, but the editor hints of even better things to come if present plans mature. It seems that ACOLYTE may become the semi-prozine suggested by Inman. Evidently this is why the price has been raised to two bits. | 2026-05-11 |
| relaxacon n. | 2011 Upcoming Events in Analog Science Fiction & Fact Nov. 112/1 CHAMBANACON 41 (Midwest relaxacon, gaming, art, etc. conference) at Holiday Inn Hotel and Convention Center. | 2026-05-08 |
| relaxacon n. | 1953 Cosmic Reporter in Fantasy Times (#187) 1 Oct. 5/1 The no-formal program notion was the basis of the ‘Relaxicon’ which was going to be held near San Francisco this year, but which failed to come off. Apparently those who were going to put it on relaxed a bit too much… | 2026-05-08 |
| faneditor n. | 1952 Tagging Along in Startling Stories Apr. 132/1 (letter) I’m putting out a fanzine in January…. I hereby promise (IN PUBLIC PRINT!) to carry out to the best of my ability my debts to you as a faneditor. | 2026-05-07 |
| faneditor n. | 2001 in Ansible Link in Interzone (#169) July 50/2 Writer, faneditor, critic, and author…, he died peacefully in his sleep. | 2026-05-07 |
| faneditor n. | 1970 The Clubhouse in Amazing Stories Mar. 120/2 There are a lot of fanzines being published today…. I wonder how many of these brand-new faneditors realize just how numerous they are? | 2026-05-07 |
| faneditor n. | 1992 File 770 (#95) Nov. 6/1 If fanzine editors used to insist on first-time publication of illos, the artists grumbling accepted this state of affairs…. The only way an artist could try another faneditor would be to retrieve the original art, an embarrassing chore for all concerned. | 2026-05-07 |
| faneditor n. | 1982 Editorial in Atarantes (#57) Mar. (unpaged) Every year we have the Hugo nominations and awards and every year Locus wins. However, every year some real fanzine and fan editor gets nominated…and loses. The token faneditor or something. | 2026-05-07 |
| faneditor n. | 2022 newt news in WOOF (#47) (Worldcon 80, Chicago) (unpaged) It Is a Proud (em…) And Lonely (yes indeed) Thing To Be a beginning faneditor, as you will surely remember. | 2026-05-07 |
| faneditor n. | 1945 Fanzines in Bloomington News Letter (#1) 15 Dec. (unpaged) Robinson and Tucker will publish (this winter) belated 1942 Yearbook of Science, Fantasy & Weird Fiction, not waiting for Molasses Unger to get around to it. Price two-bits, free to faneditors who exchange. | 2026-05-07 |
| faneditor n. | 1941 Editorial Blast in Amazing Stories Oct. 143 (letter) Your editorial blast at a certain section of the fan magazines has me standing up and cheering. It appears to me that the fan editors never get humps in their back until an editor has rejected a few of their stories. That seems to bring out the literary critic in them. | 2026-05-07 |
| faned n. | 1942 Letter in Voice of the Imagi-Nation (#25) Oct. 9 Other faneds, in planning their zines, try to make them pleasing to their readers, including Fortier; it seems to me that this imposes on JJ the obligation to make his own as good as possible if he’s going to publish one, or else not waste the readers’ time. | 2026-05-06 |
| faned n. | 1941 CFS Review Mar. 1 Not near as many fan eds came thru with contributions as expected or hoped, but it is still worth your 15¢. | 2026-05-06 |
| mundane n. 2 | ?1960 Hic-Cup in Centaur (#1) Apr.–May (unpaged) May it be noted that I heartily approve of the name change from ASTOUNDING to ANALOG, and them who are against it are very sentimental fools against any progress and change—the very foundations of stfnal stuff. It's good business, pulls in the mundanes who are the real money of the mag, and gets rid of a title which I have always considered very juvinile [sic] and disgusting. | 2026-05-05 |
| mundane n. 1 | 1943 Items From My Scrapbooks in Sustaining Program Fall 10 And finally, as you’ve mentioned, some hack stories, like gotta-fix-the-spaceship’s [sic], are not dressed-up mundanes, even if they do stink. | 2026-05-05 |
| mundane adj. 1 | 1938 A Fan Goes to Washington Episode II in The Meteor Fall 3 I found some difficulty in making clear to him the difference between the status of the FAPA and the mundane APA’s—National, United, and American. | 2026-05-05 |
| Mary Sue n. | 1978 The Hunting of the Press in Masiform D (#7) 30 July 18 Let us take them in order. The first is its taste, [/] Which is meagre and poorly, but staid: [/] Like a Mary Sue living her life calm and chaste— [/] Until Spock’s pon farr lets him get laid. | 2026-04-29 |
| illo n. | 1944 Taurus in Shaggi-L’Affaires (#21) Dec. (unpaged) Walt Daugherty’s projected Hasse Volume, ‘Prelude in Flame & Others’, is shaping up, with the text of the 4 stories cut, 2 Rogers illos mimeod. | 2026-04-27 |
| fuggheaded adj. | 1960 Letter in Cry of the Nameless (#135) Jan. 93 Yet, let this not indicate that I'm going to fuggheadedly advocate that we cease using fanspeak in our fanzines to aid the newcomer in comprehending that much faster. No, indeed, I maliciously say: the learning of fanspeak seems to me to be a sort of basic training which every aspiring fan must go through and survive. | 2026-04-27 |
| fillo n. | 1954 Hyphen (#12) Christmas 2 Besides doing most of the cartoons and headings in this issue, Arthur is also responsible for all the little filler illos scattered all over the place. (l suggest ‘fillos’ as a name for these things.) | 2026-04-23 |
| fillo n. | ?1954 Staring Blankly in Diaspar (#2) (unpaged) The fillos were enjoyable, but they ruined your format, Dāv. Try typing your comments first, leaving squares free for the fillers. | 2026-04-23 |
| ob- prefix | 1959 The BNF Of Iz 16 We have to plant an ob with him first…and Ghu only knows what frightening thing he’ll want us to do. | 2026-04-21 |
| filking n. | 1976 Ramblings in Yandro (#236) July 3 Filking — or filksinging, for purists — has had several up and downsurges since I started in fandom over two decades ago, and I don't think it has ever been as wide spread and as much practiced as it is today. | 2026-04-20 |
| filker n. | 1962 Venom in Viper (#6) Sept. 5 We knew the filkniks were holding forth in Poul and Karen Anderson's room, but we wanted a party. Finally I volunteered to brave the sounds of room 582 and find out if any of the filkers knew of a party. | 2026-04-20 |
| filk v. | 1998 The Fannish Armada (56th Worldcon) (#6) 7 Aug. (morning) 1/2 (cartoon) ROCKETS’ RED GLARE — BOMBS BURSTING IN AIR — OUR FLAG IS STILL THERE — — SAY, I WONDER IF I CAN FILK SOMETHING TO “TO ANACREON IN HEAVEN”... | 2026-04-20 |
| filk v. | 1962 Venom in Viper (#6) Sept. 5 HaLevy volunteered his room, so we started there, unfortunately running into the evicted filkniks who joined us and continued filking in Al’s room. | 2026-04-20 |
| filksing n. | 1961 Seacon Snapshots in Neolithic (#18) Sept. 4 Eaa and I asked if there any filk sings in session [sic]. Bruce said yes, but, when we went up, we found that it had stopped. | 2026-04-17 |
| filksinging n. | ?1961 Bjottings (unpaged) The party lasted until about 5 a.m., with filk-singing until 4:30. | 2026-04-17 |
| time-slip v. | 1974 Frankenstein Unbound in Fantastic May 38 (editorial blurb) Time was slipping disasterously! [sic] Bodenland found himself timeslipped from the year 2020 to the year 1816, but even there slippages were occurring from season to season while Bodenland pursued a man named Victor Frankenstein and his creature stalked the Frigid Lands of another time and place! [Ibid. 38/1] A disasterous [sic] Last War has ruptured time and space and Joseph Bodenland finds his Texas ranch of 2020 timeslipped into another era. It is not the first such slippage, but this time while he is out in his Felder (and atomically-fuelled automobile) the slippage ceases and he finds himself trapped in the time and land to which the ranch was briefly transported. | 2026-04-16 |
| time-slip v. | 1984 Things to Come in Starburst Mar. 7/1 The nearest any of the Embassy projects get to even fantasy is in Heaven Sent, a kind of updating of Peter Ustinov's Vice-Versa (1947), in which a youth time-slips back into the youth of his parents. | 2026-04-16 |
| time-slip v. | 1995 Asimov’s Science Fiction May 40 (editorial introduction to Eliot Fintushel’s The Beast with Two Backs) Eliot Fintushel shows us why you can't be too casual with your chrono-monitor when time-slipping down causal ravines and negotiating with transcats and womporfs. | 2026-04-16 |
| time-slip v. | 1995 Seven Wonders in Asimov’s Science Fiction Dec. 133 Instead it was a STOP hovership, homing in on a time-slipped expedition out of tenth century Burma that had become badly tangled in a twentieth century war. Love took an active part in the ensuing firefight between Special Temporal Operations and a full battalion from the 308th NVA division. | 2026-04-16 |
| time-slip v. | 2001 Mutant Popcorn in Interzone (#163) Jan. 31/1 (review of the film version of Tom’s Midnight Garden) A rich, poignant reflection on landscape, change and memory, the book has its 1950s hero timeslip nightly to become the imaginary friend of a lonely Victorian orphan, watching her grow up and put childhood behind her in the space of what for the devastated Tom is only a few summer weeks, with an unforgettable climactic set piece (skating upriver to Ely in the great frost of 1895) capped by an affecting final reunion in Tom’s own time with the old lady in whose memories he has been lodging. | 2026-04-16 |
| time-slip v. | 2014 in Interzone (#253) July–Aug. 76/2 (review of Octavia Butler’s Kindred) There’s no technology involved, no chin-stroke wrestling with the Grandfather Paradox; never once do we discover how Dana time-slips, let alone why it is that she can take objects or other people along with her; Dana’s ability to time-slip simply is. | 2026-04-16 |
| time-slip v. | 2018 A Surprise Beginning in Analog Science Fiction & Fact Sept.–Oct. 53/2 Turned out, the cornucopia of science had continued, even accelerated, while I was getting timeslipped into 2037. The technoculture never quit. | 2026-04-16 |
| lox n. | 1992 Pantry in Folly (#15) 10 May 17/1 Anyhoo, my time is taken up with…reading a few fanzines—which calls for a few lox—and a tad of personal correspondences. | 2026-04-15 |
| lox n. | 1976 Letter in MOTA (#19) Aug.–Sept. 36 Did the Katz's ever run my lox in Wooden Nickel? | 2026-04-15 |
| loc v. | 1961 Next-to-last Statement in Xero (#5) July 7 has it been meaningful [/] that i [/] wrote and rhymed [/] and pubbed [/] and loced and— [/] on that summer day of the illinois state fair— [/] talked for an afternoon with [/] wilson (bob) tucker? | 2026-04-13 |
| loc n. | [1960 Letter in Dynatron (#6) July–Aug. 14 Do anata? Anata wa nihongo wo benkyo wo snite imasu kara, kono tegami to loc wo nihongo ni kaite imasno ka? [translation You? Since you’re studying Japanese, are you writing this letter and loc in Japanese?] ] | 2026-04-13 |
| loc n. | 1960 Letter in Cry of the Nameless (#143) Oct. 16 Oh you pipple are clods! I fully expected to have Cry-habit licked this month. No Cry, no brainrot, no loc’s to write — bliss. | 2026-04-13 |
| ish n. | 1937 Imagination! Oct. 18 (advt.) ‘LASTA Usonano’ (‘Last USAmerican’ in Esp [sc. Esperanto], reviewd [sic] in this ish): Importd [sic] Rarity for Scientificuric Collectors. | 2026-04-10 |
| kipple n. | 1962 in Shangri-L’Affaires (#60) Jan.–Feb. 30 (editorial response to reader letter) I think this is a wonderful idea. Why, you know, the usual procedure for most fans is to throw away TAFF ballots and other kipple when they find them in fanzines. Now, under your system, all the completist-types would have to save TAFF ballots because each one would have a different newsletter on its obverse side. | 2026-04-10 |
| Akira slide n. | 2018 in Crunchyroll 7 Dec. (title) You've Definitely Seen The ‘Akira Slide’ Before, Even If You Don’t Watch Anime. | 2026-04-09 |
| Akira slide n. | 2022 in Collider 28 Dec. (title) The 10 Best Uses of 'Akira Slide' in Movies & TV Series. | 2026-04-09 |
| Akira slide n. | 2009 Corrupting an Angel on Shards of Dewprism (Geocities) She kicked out the back end, halting the bike with the well-known Akira Slide maneuver. | 2026-04-09 |
| Akira slide n. | [1999 Monday Night Cafe-Racing Review in ba.motorcycles (Usenet newsgroup) 29 Sept. Reaching escape velocity I then exited the roundabout straight at the group, locking the rear and pitching the Helix-hack sideways in an Akira-like slide that I was later told ‘Would have been a really really impressive highside’. ] | 2026-04-09 |
| Akira slide n. | 2025 Why Gainax’s ‘Gunbuster’ Post Is More Than Anime Rule of Cool Reference Fodder in Gizmodo 6 Nov. The ‘Akira slide’—an iconic shot of Kaneda sliding sideways on his bike in the 1988 movie adaptation of Akira—has become an icon of anime culture, referenced over and over in numerous cartoons and films, western and Japanese. | 2026-04-09 |
| Akira slide n. | 2013 Tweet 12 Sept. someday i need to pull off an AKIRA slide. | 2026-04-09 |
| neopro n. | 1960 Pleiades Pimples (#1) Jan. 15 There remains two matters to interest you, Joe Neopro: taxes and reviews. | 2026-04-08 |
| faned n. | 1946 Pacificon stuff in Bloomington News Letter (#4) Apr. (unpaged) Sample fanzine advertisement attached; same obtainable free from B.T. for any fan-ed wishing to run them. | 2026-04-08 |
| time travel v. | 1928 Traveling Into the Future, & Time Traveling in Amazing Stories Apr. 83/3 (letter) My theory on Time-traveling is, that if you can Time-travel, you are invisible and have no influence. | 2026-04-07 |
| faned n. | 2026 The Wahflestomper Manifesto in Ever & Anon (#8) Feb. 194 If you, as a faned or other recipient, choose to publish an issue of Wahflestomper in your fanzine’s letter column or another forum—perhaps as a fanzine item or column—you shall have my infinite gratitude and appreciation. | 2026-04-06 |
| faned n. | 2013 in LoneStarCon3 (Program Book) 99 (cartoon) Do faned’s [sic] ever have senior moments? | 2026-04-06 |
| faned n. | 2001 How Precious was that While: An Autobiography xi. 246 Later, in 1986 I think, I was sent a copy of Fosfax, a club fanzine, and for a year or so acknowledged with postcards, which were duly printed…. I introduced my collaborator Robert Margroff to it, and he wrote regular and good letters, which is what a faned really appreciates; the heart of most fanzines is in their letter column. | 2026-04-06 |
| faned n. | 1993 The Norton Reader 2 Sept. (unpaged) Caran ‘Toes’ Wilbanks, Up-and-coming Faned. | 2026-04-06 |
| faned n. | 1979 Programme Notes in SeaCon 79 Progress Report 4 May (unpaged) I am also organising a competition for fanzine editors, ‘Faneds’ Fan Ads’…. These adverts will be judged for their artistic merit, individuality and for their ability to portray the character of the faned and the fanzine. | 2026-04-06 |
| faned n. | 1969 Letter in Science Fiction Review (#33) Oct. 47/1 A resurgence of fannishness will require a fannish focal point which will require an energetic, madcap faned with money, an odd personality, talent as a writer and a lot of free time. A combination very rare. You may wait a long while for the magic spark to appear. | 2026-04-06 |
| faned n. | 1961 Fan Scene in Escape (#1) Jan. 25 (footnote) Amateur Press Association…. Occasionally some ambitious faned will include illustrations and articles by other fen, but most apa groups demand at least six self-written pages per every three months. | 2026-04-06 |
| faned n. | 1951 The Club House in Amazing Stories Sept. 144/1 (review of fanzine) IMPOSSIBLE…‘Getting Material for Your Fanzine’, by Wally Weber should solve all the troubles of any faned who lacks both material and a conscience. | 2026-04-06 |
| fan film n. | 1956 Journal of the World Science Fiction Society (vol. 14, no. 4) Aug. 13 (title) PSFS To Present Fan Film In Color…. It is the first science fiction film (to our knowledge) in color, made by a science fiction club from an original story written by one of the club members. | 2026-04-06 |
| time travel v. | 1991 Bad Timing in Interzone (#54) Dec. 36/2 The man tells her that only certain people are allowed to time travel, and they are not allowed to interfere in any way, only observe. | 2026-04-06 |
| time travel v. | 2012 Living in the Eighties in Asimov’s Science Fiction Apr.–May 142 So you believe I time traveled? | 2026-04-06 |
| time travel v. | 1956 The Door Into Summer in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Dec. 70/1 I’m not the only person who has time-traveled. | 2026-04-06 |
| time travel v. | 1938 ‘Let Cymbals Ring!’ in Astounding Science-Fiction Dec. 129/2 Afraid of strain in the control dimension if I time-traveled, were they? Well—let it strain, say I! By one chance in a trillion, I have materialized in the Epoch of Major Personal Satisfaction. | 2026-04-06 |
| condom n. | 1999 Fanzine Review in No Award (#6) Fall–Winter 9/1 Southern fans know Guy H. Lillian III, Attorney at Law, as a long-standing member in condom. He had, after all, taken on the grueling task of bidding for NoLaCon II (as head of publications, a portentous position withal), and was a well-known feature on the con circuit before and after. | 2026-04-03 |
| conreport n. | 1949 Letter in Spacewarp (#31) Oct. (unpaged) This month’s WARP was swell, from cover to cover, but how the heck did you ever manage to get the Con report out so soon? | 2026-04-03 |
| condom n. | 1995 Ben’Zine Fumes in Ben’Zine (#5) Mar. 5 Far from being exclusive they have hosted, toasted, roasted, held us spellbound by their speeches, writings and art, in both zinedom and condom, an amazing number of times. | 2026-04-02 |
| condom n. | 1974 in Title (#33) Dec. (unpaged) Ben Indick has exposed fandom and condom for what it is: no different from medical, librarian or spelunking conventions. | 2026-04-02 |
| condom n. | 1968 The Couch in Psychotic (#23) Jan. (unpaged) I suspect the old rules will be retained, in the end, and no great harm will come to fandom or condom. | 2026-04-02 |
| BNF n. | 1948 Fantasy Amateur, Jr. 1 Mar. Special mailing put out in commemoration of the dead pneumococci who once dwelt happily in Chas Burbee, BNF. | 2026-04-01 |
| BNF n. | [1941 Letter in Le Zombie (#44) Nov.–Dec. 9 I’ve read letter sections, fanzines, etc. and now I open this big mouth of mine and yell in protest. You big name fans talk about stuff like ‘Yngvi is a louse.’ So I say….who in hell is Yngvi? And why is he a louse?] | 2026-04-01 |
| Mercutian adj. | 1908 The Solar System viii. 173 This is the sidereal period or true Mercutian year. [Ibid. 179] When Mercury was in a semi-fluid condition the action of the sun raised large tides and tidal friction would tend to increase the length of the Mercutian day and to make the periods of rotation and revolution identical. In 1896 Lowell seemingly confirmed Schiaparelli's ideas as to the period of rotation, but the observations are so difficult that the matter can hardly be considered as definitely determined. | 2026-04-01 |
| Mercutian n. 2 | 1922 Fire People in Argosy All-Story Weekly 28 Oct. xii. 710/2 I wondered what curious sort of metal this might be—so like copper in appearance. I doubted if it were copper, since even in this hot, moist air it seemed to have no property of oxidation. I asked Miela about it, and she gave me its Mercutian name at once; but of course that helped me not a bit. | 2026-03-31 |
| Mercutian n. 2 | 1941 Aerita of the Light Country in Super Science Novels Magazine Aug. iii. 22/2 It was weird. He felt as though with a leap he could sail twenty feet or more. Aerita was drawing him toward stairs where a winding flight went down into the palace. The interior sounds were floating up—running footsteps; men’s excited, frightened voices in the strange Mercutian language. | 2026-03-31 |
| Mercutian n. 2 | 1943 Spasm No. 1—The Inmost Planet in Lamppost (#1) Dec. 1/1
The heat-loving hoko of Mercury Sits and sweats in the sun with a smirk, or he Remains in his pit Where a fire is lit In which he can cool his dinner* curry. *This is the correct Mercutian accentuation. |
2026-03-31 |
| Mercutian n. 2 | 1931 Tetrahedra of Space in Wonder Stories Nov. v. 743/1 He drilled in the idea of rain, until he was sure he had made his point, securing various Mercutian expressions of disgust and dislike. He found a word for ‘rain’—really coined one, for it did not seem to exist in Mercutian. It was a combination of ‘water’ and ‘up,’ so as to be quite clear, with a double-ruffle of emphasis to characterize it. The etymology of the word was quite clear to all concerned. They knew what rain was, now. | 2026-03-31 |
| Mercutian n. 2 | 1932 Slaves of Mercury in Astounding Stories Sept. 107/2 Joan thrust the gag into the thick gash of a mouth, choking off a torrent of imprecations in the guttural Mercutian tongue. Then she proceeded to truss him, expertly, efficiently. [Ibid. 112/1] The guard exclaimed something In guttural Mercutian, rose hastily, and closed the open door and window. | 2026-03-31 |
| Mercutian adj. | 1956 Review in Astounding Science Fiction Oct. 156/1 [Reviewing Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury] This is also a SF-detective blend reminiscent of Asimov’s current experiments in the form: sabotage, attempted murder, successful murder (with gravitation as the weapon), a mad robot (whose madness is the crucial clue), weird Mercutian rocklife—they’re all here. | 2026-03-31 |
| Mercutian adj. | 1922 Fire People in Argosy All-Story Weekly 21 Oct. vi. 496/1 After a time they reached the Mercutian vehicle. It was a cubical box, with a pyramid-shaped top, some thirty feet square at the base, and evidently constructed of metal, a gleaming white nearer like silver than anything else Alan could think of. He saw that it had a door on the side facing him, and several little slitlike windows, covered by a thick, transparent substance which might have been glass. | 2026-03-31 |
| Mercutian adj. | 1941 Masquerade in Astounding Science-Fiction Mar. 57/1 Old Creepy was down in the control room, sawing lustily on his screeching fiddle. On the sun-blasted plains outside the Mercutian Power Center, the Roman Candles, snatching their shapes from Creepy’s mind, had assumed the form of Terrestrial hillbillies and were cavorting through the measures of a square dance. | 2026-03-31 |
| Mercutian adj. | 1938 Mercutian Adventure in Astounding Stories Feb. 101/1 The temperature might, in fact, approach or exceed -300° F. And Mercutian air—though it contains a high percentage of oxygen—is of such low density and pressure that there is little practical difference between exposure to it and exposure to the vacuum of the interplanetary void! | 2026-03-31 |
| Mercutian adj. | 1931 Tetrahedra of Space in Wonder Stories Nov. iv. 738/2 Aside from the vegetation which they were so methodically blasting, the Mercutian tetrahedra—for such Professor Hornby swore they were and such we later found them to be—had not yet come into real contact with the life of our planet, much less its master, Man. | 2026-03-31 |
| Mercutian adj. | 1961 Tongues of the Moon in Amazing Stories Sept. 16/2 ‘I haven’t time or ability to think straight now. But I have thought of this. Earth could be wiped out. If so, we on the Moon are the only human beings left alive in the universe. And...’ ‘There are the Martian colonies. And the Ganymedan and Mercutian bases.’ | 2026-03-31 |