Robert A. Heinlein
See first quotes from Robert A. Heinlein
184 Quotations from Robert A. Heinlein
| aircar n. | 1959 Starship Troopers (1987) 156 There’s an air car waiting on the roof and your boat boosts in twenty-eight minutes. |
| anywhen adv. | 1941 Elsewhere in Astounding Science Fiction Sept. 100/1 The younger man glanced about him. ‘Where are the others?’ ‘Where? Anywhere,’ replied Frost with a shrug, ‘and anywhen. ’ |
| areography n. | 1949 Red Planet (1968) 6 Well, I don’t know. I'm interested in areography, but I like biology too. |
| areography n. | 1949 Red Planet (1968) 6 Areography, equivalent to ‘geography’ for Earth. From ‘Ares’, Greek for Mars. |
| astrogate v. | 1948 Space Cadet 70 And you laddies expect to learn to astrogate! Better by far you should have gone to cow colleges. |
| astrogate v. | 1953 Starman Jones (1980) xx. 185 You want to raise the ship, so you want me to astrogate. |
| astrogate v. | 1941 Common Sense in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 138/2 My Chief Engineer assures me that the Main Converter could be started, but we have no one fitted to astrogate. |
| astrogation n. | 1950 Farmer in Sky (1975) iv. 47 Please, sir, we’re in astrogation. |
| astrogation n. | 1953 Starman Jones (1975) i. 19 He added Uncle Chet’s circular astrogation slide rule. |
| astrogational adj. | 1948 Space Cadet 228 You can forget about the astrogational junk; it'll be dead reckoning. |
| astrogational adj. | 1948 Space Cadet 151 Before the ship reached the danger zone, an all-hands chore in space suits took place; armor-plate segments, as thick as the skin of the ship, were bolted over the ship’s quartz ports, leaving only the eyes of the astrogational instruments and the radar antennae exposed. |
| astrogator n. | 1953 Starman Jones (1975) ii. 30 So you want to be an astrogator? |
| astrogator n. | 1953 Starman Jones (1980) xx. 186 I'll astrogate—shucks, I suppose it’s all right to call me the astrogator, under the circumstances. |
| beanstalk n. | 1982 Friday 1 I have never liked riding the Beanstalk. My distaste was full-blown even before the disaster to the Quito Skyhook. A cable that goes up into the sky with nothing to hold it up smells too much of magic. |
| biotechnician n. | 1941 Methuselah’s Children in Astounding Science-Fiction Sept. 161 ‘What ones? And what isotopes?’…‘Will you let me finish?…I’m no biotechnician; I can’t give you details.’ |
| Buck Rogers adj. | 1946 Letter 25 Oct. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 106 I am a mechanical engineer, a ballistician, a student of reaction engines… I won’t give an editor any Buck Rogers nonsense. |
| Callistan n. 1 | 1941 ‘—We Also Walk Dogs’ in Astounding Science-Fiction July 131/2 Air pressure, humidity, radiation densities, atmosphere chemistry, temperatures, cultural conditions—those things are all simple. But how about acceleration? We could use a centrifuge for the Jovians, but Martians and Titans and Callistans and the rest of the small-planet people—that’s another matter. There is no way to reduce Earth-normal gravity. |
| cold sleep n. | 1941 Methuselah's Children in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 96/1 By converting some of the recreation space to storerooms and adapting the storerooms thus cleared to the purpose of cold-sleep, the ship was roomy enough. |
| cold sleep n. | 1951 Between Planets 87 During the first week out the senior surgeon announced that any who wished could avail themselves of cold-sleep. Within a day or two the bunkroom was half deserted, the missing passengers having been drugged and chilled and stowed in sleep tanks aft, there to dream away the long weeks ahead. |
| cold sleep v. | 1956 The Door Into Summer in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Oct. 14/2 Damnation, he was quite capable of refusing to let me cold-sleep. |
| communicator n. | 1956 Double Star in Astounding Science Fiction Feb. ii. 29/1 Dak was busy most of the time at the ship’s communicator, apparently talking on a very tight beam for his hands constantly nursed the directional control like a gunner laying a gun under difficulties. |
| corpsicle n. | 1982 Friday (1983) 172 I did not fully appreciate that last until I saw, in an election news story, that the corpsicles at Prehoda Pines Patience Park constituted three precincts all voting through pre-registered proxies. |
| credit n. | 1949 Cuts to ‘Red Planet’ in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 252 We’ll go hunting together and I’ll bet you two credits that I score first. |
| cyborg n. | 1966 Moon is a Harsh Mistress in Worlds of If Mar. 134/2 Good ship Lark had been stripped—total crew was skipper and a Cyborg pilot. |
| death ray n. | 1963 Glory Road in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Aug. 101/2 There was a spurt of smoke and down he went. ‘Death ray’, or Laser beam, or whatever—line it up, press the stud, and anyone on the far end quit the party with a hole burned in him. |
| deep space n. | 1941 Common Sense in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 150/2 It was luck that had placed the Ship near a star with a planetary system, luck that the Ship arrived there with a speed low enough for Hugh to counteract it in a ship’s auxiliary craft, luck that he learned to handle it after a fashion before they starved or lost themselves in deep space. |
| deep-space adj. | 1949 Green Hills of Earth in Invasion From Mars 38 He had worked the Luna run in her and had been along on the first deep-space trip, to Drywater, on Mars—and back, to everyone’s surprise. |
| dirtside adv. | 1953 Starman Jones 64 If you mess it up, I'll leave you dirtside and raise without you. Let me see you walk again. |
| dirtside adv. | 1956 Double Star in Astounding Science Fiction Feb. 10/1 If a man walks in dressed like a hick and acting as if he owned the place, he’s a spaceman. It is a logical necessity. His profession makes him feel like boss of all creation; when he sets foot dirtside he is slumming among the peasants. |
| dropshaft n. | [1949 Gulf in Astounding Science Fiction Nov. 74/2 The corridor ahead and a turn to the left should bring him to the quick-drop shaft.] |
| Earthian adj. | 1951 Letter 3 June in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 62 It is not actually related to any earthian life form; there is plenty of elbow room for the artist to use his imagination. |
| earthly adj. | 1949 Red Planet viii. 125 Jim had never heard a Martian speak an Earthly tongue before. |
| Earth-normal adj. | 1947 It’s Great to be Back! in Saturday Evening Post 26 July 71/2 It can't be just the gravity…. I've taken earth-normal weight in the centrifuge at the Y, back home—I mean back in Luna City. We're weak from spacesickness. |
| Earthside n. | 1953 Starman Jones (1975) x. 104 The Ozarks. That’s Earthside. |
| Earthside adj. | 1949 Gulf in Astounding Science Fiction Dec. 75/2 The arming circuit and the radio relay to the Earthside trigger is located on the Moon in a building inside her private dome. |
| Earth-type adj. 2 | 1941 Methuselah's Children in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 98/1 To discover what sort and in particular whether it supported an Earth-type planet required a close approach at reasonably low speed. |
| eetee n. | 1956 Double Star in Astounding Science Fiction Apr. 143/2 I was knocked out the first time when we finally put the eetees—Venusians and Martians and Outer Jovians—into the Grand Assembly. But the non-human peoples are still there and I came back. |
| extraterrestrial n. | 1953 Starman Jones (1975) iii. 37 He saw the first extra-terrestrial, an eight-foot native of Epsilon Gemini V. |
| extraterrestrial n. | 1954 Star Lummox in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction May 43 The court takes judicial notice that members of non-human races may give evidence. But nothing has been presented to show that this particular extra-terrestrial is competent. |
| fantasy n. 2 | 1959 Science Fiction in Science Fiction Novel 52 I think that science fiction, to be worthy of critical literary praise, should approximate the standards of these four novels and of the fantasies mentioned just above. |
| farside n. | 1962 Searchlight in Scientific American Aug. 88/2 Her pilot was a safety pilot: such ships shuttled unpiloted between Tycho and Farside daily. |
| faster-than-light adj. | 1952 Year of Jackpot in Galaxy Science Fiction Mar. ii. 19/2 FASTER-THAN-LIGHT WEAPON PROMISED. |
| ferry n. | 1941 Logic of Empire in Astounding Science-Fiction Mar. 10/1 The company has obligations to its stockholders…and it can’t afford to run an interplanetary ferry for the benefit of a class of people that feel that the world owes them a living. |
| flying saucer n. | 1952 Year of Jackpot in Galaxy Science Fiction Mar. ii. 22/1 Flying Saucers seemed to be landing daily in every state. Nobody had exhibited one on the ground—or had the Department of Defense sat on them? Breen was unsatisfied with the off-the-record reports he had been able to get; the alcoholic content of some of them had been high. But the sea serpent on Ventura Beach was real; he had seen it. The troglodyte in Tennessee he was not in a position to verify. |
| free fall n. | 1950 Farmer in Sky (1975) viii. 83 While cruising in free fall according to plan, the ship was breached by a small meteorite. |
| free fall n. | 1953 Starman Jones (1975) xiii. 143 The ship will be in free fall for thirty seconds. |
| fresher n. | 1940 Coventry in Astounding Science-Fiction July 78/1 ‘O.K.—shortly. Where’s the 'fresher?’ ‘Over there.’ It was not Dave’s idea of a refreshing chamber, but he managed to take a sketchy shower in spite of the slimy floor. |
| fresher n. | 1941 Methuselah’s Children in Astounding Science-Fiction July 19/1 Mary Risling was up at her usual hour the next day. Long still slept. She ducked into her 'fresher, showered and massaged, and swallowed a grain of benzedrine surrogate to compensate for the short night. |
| fresher n. | 1950 Farmer in Sky (1975) ii. 28 I…went in and set my 'fresher for a needle shower and a hard massage. |
| future history n. | 1961 Letter 17 Mar. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 233 The Sound of His Wings…has an SF tie-in through my ‘Future History’ chart without being tagged as ‘science fiction’. |
| gadget story n. | 1959 Science Fiction in Science Fiction Novel 20 This indispensable three-fold awareness does not limit the science fiction author to stories about science—he need not write a gadget story; indeed a gadget story would not be science fiction under this definition if the author failed in this three-fold awareness. |
| galactography n. | 1957 in Astounding Science Fiction Sept. 18/2 ‘Place’ was some estate, or household, or factor’s compound, never a particular planet or sun (his notions of astronomy were mostly wrong and he was innocent of galactography). |
| Ganymedian n. | 1950 Farmer in Sky ix. 88 The shelter…was jammed with people, some of them in ship suits and some of them Ganymedeans. |
| gate n. | 1955 Tunnel in Sky 19 It was extremely expensive in terms of uranium to keep an interstellar gate open and the people in this wagon train could expect to be out of commercial touch with Earth until such a time as they had developed surpluses valuable enough in trade to warrant reopening the gate at regular intervals. |
| gate n. | 1955 Tunnel in Sky 14 Ron did not glance at the statue; he looked at the gates. It was late afternoon and heavily overcast at east coast North America, but gate one was open to some planetary spot having glaring noonday sun; Rod could catch glimpses through it of men dressed in shorts and sun hats and nothing else. Gate number two had a pressure lock rigged over it; it carried a big skull & crossbones sign and the symbol for chlorine. |
| gee n. 1 | 1956 Double Star in Astounding Science Fiction Feb. 29/2 The Can Do—that’s this bucket—is about to rendezvous with the Go For Broke, which is a high-gee torchship. |
| gee n. 1 | 1956 Double Star in Astounding Science Fiction Feb. 33/2 There was a stenciled sign on the bulkhead behind the bunks: WARNING!!! Do Not Take More Than Three Gravities Without a Gee Suit. |
| gee n. 2 | 1953 Starman Jones 92 Now we've been gunning at twenty-four gee ever since we left the atmosphere. |
| gravitic adj. | 1941 Sixth Column in Astounding Science-Fiction Jan. 15/2 You see, there are three types of energy fields known to exist in space; electric, magnetic, and gravitic or gravitational. |
| gravity n. | 1951 Puppet Masters in Galaxy Nov. 118/2 The track surely could not be a ship; ships don’t decelerate at fifty gravities! It did not occur to him that that might not matter to a slug. |
| gravity well n. | 1966 Moon Is a Harsh Mistress in Worlds of If Jan. 62/2 But Luna has energy of position; she sits at top of gravity well eleven kilometers per second deep and kept from falling in by curb only two and a half km/s high. |
| gravity well n. | 1952 Rolling Stones v. 70 In interplanetary trade cost is always a matter of where a thing is gravity-wise—not how far away. Earth is a lovely planet but all her products lie at the bottom of a very deep ‘gravity well’, deeper than that of Venus, enormously deeper than Luna’s. [Ibid. vi. 80] Blasting off from Luna is not the terrifying and oppressive experience that a lift from Earth is. The Moon’s field is so weak, her gravity well so shallow, that a boost of one-g would suffice. |
| grok v. | 1961 Stranger in a Strange Land 18 Smith had been aware of the doctors but had grokked that their intentions were benign. |
| grok v. | 1961 Stranger in a Strange Land xxiv. 250 Now that he knew himself to be self he was free to grok ever closer to his brothers. |
| groundhog n. | 1942 Waldo in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 18/2 Stevens streaked in after him, displaying a groundhog’s harmless pride in handling himself well in space conditions. |
| groundhog n. | 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction Aug. 19/1 It is hard for a groundhog to dismiss the notion of weight. |
| groundlubber n. | 1942 Waldo in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 21 I suppose I am a bit of a groundlubber, but I keep expecting a floor underfoot and a ceiling overhead. |
| groundlubber n. | 1941 Methuselah’s Children in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 84/2 With thousands of groundlubbers aboard, he was reluctatant to increase the acceleration above that point for any sustained period—even two g’s might put too much of a strain on some of them. |
| groundlubber n. | 1939 Misfit in Astounding Science-Fiction Nov. 58/1 It’s a nuisance to have a bunch of ground-lubbers on board, sir. |
| helicab n. | 1953 Starman Jones (1975) xxii. 251 The helicab was parked in front of the house. |
| home planet n. | 1952 This I Believe in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 141 I believe in my whole race… I believe that this hairless embryo with the aching, oversize brain case…will endure. Will endure longer than his home planet—will spread out to the stars and beyond. |
| humanoid n. | 1953 Starman Jones (1975) iv. 48 Martians in trefoil sunglasses and respirators, humanoids from Beta Corvi III, things with exoskeletons from Allah knew where. |
| impeller n. | 1951 Puppet Masters xviii. 98 There were no more shots, which was good, as I would have been a duck on water from then on. My starboard impeller began to run hot, possibly from the near miss or perhaps simply from abuse. I let it heat, praying that it would not fly apart, for another ten minutes. Then, with the Mississippi behind me and the indicator 'way up into "danger" I cut it out and let the car limp along on the port unit. |
| interworld adj. | 1957 Double Star (back cover) The stakes—Peace with the Martians if he succeeds, and colonial union with the democratic inter-world empire. |
| Jovian n. 1 | 1956 Double Star (1957) 127 I was knocked out the first time when we finally put the eetees—Venerians and Martians and Outer Jovians—into the Grand Assembly. But the nonhuman peoples are still there and I came back. |
| Jovian n. 2 | 1956 Double Star in Astounding Science Fiction Feb. 47/1 The Martian language gave me my greatest worry. Like most actors, I had picked up enough Martian, Venusian, Outer Jovian, et cetera, to be able to fake in front of a camera or on stage. |
| Jovian adj. | 1950 Farmer in Sky (1975) ix. 90 I was interested in it because I knew that the Jovian observatory was on it. |
| light-month n. | 1941 Methuselah’s Children in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 97/2 Lazarus, somewhat mollified, told her. The type-G, or Sun type, star toward which they had bent their course was now less than a light-year away—a little more than seven light-months, to be more nearly precise. |
| little green man n. | 1956 Time for the Stars 156 How does it feel to be a little green man in a flying saucer? |
| Loonie n. | 1965 Moon is a Harsh Mistress in Worlds of If Dec. 14/2 If you think any Loonie in those days would hesitate to take advantage of Warden, then you aren’t a Loonie. |
| Luna City n. | 1939 Misfit in Astounding Science-Fiction Nov. 65/2 Then plants, conditioned by thirty-odd generations of low gravity at Luna City, were set out and tenderly cared for. |
| Luna City n. | 1947 Rocket Ship Galileo 153 Cargraves found himself gulping as he watched the flag and banner hoisted. Privately he thought of this little hole in the ground as the first building of Luna City. He imagined that in a year or so there would be dozens of such cave dwellings, larger and better equipped, clustered around this spot. In them would live prospectors, scientists, and tough construction workers—workers who would be busy building the permanent Luna City down under the floor of the crater, while other workers installed a great rocket port up on the surface. |
| moon base n. | 1948 Space Cadet 24 A cabal of high-ranking officers, acting from Moon Base, tried to seize power over the entire world. The plot would have been successful had not Lieutenant Dahlquist disabled every atom-bomb rocket at Moon Base by removing the fissionable material from each and wrecking the triggering mechanisms. |
| mutation n. | 1950 Farmer in Sky (1975) ix. 100 He said that ‘M-G’ meant ‘mutation-Ganymede’ and the other meant ‘normal terrestrial.’ |
| mutation n. | 1941 Universe in Astounding Science-Fiction May 16/2 During that period our present wise rule of inspecting each infant for the mark of sin and returning to the Converter any who are found to be mutations was not in force. |
| mutie n. | 1941 Universe in Astounding Science-Fiction May 17/2 Since the muties are the seed of sin, why do we make no effort to wipe them out? |
| mutie n. | 1941 Universe in Astounding Science-Fiction May 16/2 There is even some question as to the original meaning of the word ‘mutie’. Certainly they number among their ancestors the mutineers who escaped death at the time of the rebellion. But they also have in their blood the blood of many of the mutants who were born during the dark age. You understand, of course, that during that period our present wise rule of inspecting each infant for the mark of sin and returning to the Converter any who are found to be mutations was not in force. |
| needle-beam n. | 1942 Beyond This Horizon in Astounding Science-Fiction Apr. 12/1 In fact, he had not noticed that his friend was wearing anything new in the way of weapons—had he arrived unarmed, Monroe-Alpha would have noticed it, naturally, but he was not particularly observant about such matters, and could easily have spent two hours with a man and never notice whether he was wearing a Stokes coagulator or a common needlebeam. |
| non-human adj. | 1942 Beyond This Horizon in Astounding Science Fiction Apr. 79/1 The distribution of life through the physical universe, for example, and the possibility that other, nonhuman intelligences existed somewhere. If there were such, then it was possible, with an extremely high degree of mathematical probability, that some of them, at least, were more advanced than men. |
| non-human adj. | 1954 Star Lummox in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction May 43 The court takes judicial notice that members of non-human races may give evidence. But nothing has been presented to show that this particular extra-terrestrial is competent. |
| non-human adj. | 1954 Star Beast (1978) 64 The presence of Dr. Ftaeml on Earth had tipped Greenberg that something was up with a non-humanoid people…non-human in mentality, creatures so different psychologically that communication was difficult. |
| non-human adj. | 1956 Double Star in Astounding Science Fiction Apr. 143/2 I was knocked out the first time when we finally put the eetees—Venusians and Martians and Outer Jovians—into the Grand Assembly. But the non-human peoples are still there and I came back. |
| nonhumanoid adj. | 1954 Star Beast (1978) 64 The presence of Dr. Ftaeml on Earth had tipped Greenberg that something was up with a non-humanoid people…non-human in mentality, creatures so different psychologically that communication was difficult. |
| nova v. | 1949 Gulf in Astounding Science-Fiction Nov. 89/1 You’ve heard of the asteroid ‘Earth-Anti’?… It ain’t there any more. It’s been novaed. |
| nova bomb n. | 1953 Gulf in Assignment in Eternity 80 Unless it is switched off any attempt to enter the building in which the arming circuit is housed will also trigger the ‘Nova’ bomb circuit. |
| nova bomb n. | 1959 Starship Soldier in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Nov. 57/1 We didn’t have nova bombs then; we couldn’t crack Klendathu open. [Ibid. 93/2] Since they hold prisoners of ours, we can’t use a nova bomb on Klendathu—so this time we go down, stand on it, hold it, take it away from them. |
| null-grav n. | 1956 Door Into Summer in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Nov. 26/2 Two things impressed me most, one big, one little. The big one was NullGrav, of course. Back in 1970 I had known about the Babson Institute gravitation research but I had not expected anything to come of it—and nothing had; the basic field theory on which NullGrav is based was developed at the University of Edinburgh. |
| parallel world n. | 1952 Letter 16 July in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 224 I do have about three cops-and-robbers jobs which I can do, one a parallel-worlds yarn and the other two conventional space opera. |
| parallel world n. | 1964 Farnham's Freehold in Worlds of If July 48/2 You've heard of parallel worlds? A million worlds side by side, almost alike but not quite? Worlds where Elizabeth married Essex and Mark Anthony hated redheads? |
| parking orbit n. | 1941 Methuselah's Children in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 76/1 Approaching Earth, he called over the patrol frequency and asked for a parking orbit, as he did not wish to set the Chili down on Earth. |
| phaser n. | [1953 Starman Jones 67 They were a little slow synchronizing the field…or else this bucket of bolts has an unbalanced phaser. ] |
| pressure suit n. | 1969 Letter 12 Nov. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 196 I lured him…by promising him that he could help develop pressure suits for fighter planes… It led directly to him developing the first suit used on the Moon. |
| pseudo-gravitation n. | 1953 Starman Jones (1975) iii. 38 The hotel that guaranteed to supply any combination of pressure, temperature, lighting, atmosphere, pseudogravitation. |
| pseudo-gravitation n. | 1941 Methuselah's Children in Astounding Science-Fiction Sept. 138/1 Yet the pseudogravitation, the false weight, achieved by the spin of the ship, persisted. |
| pseudogravitational adj. | 1942 Waldo in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 50/2 He felt the pull of the pseudo gravitational field, felt his legs grow heavy. |
| pseudogravity n. | 1941 Common Sense in Astounding Science-Fiction Oct. 108 Bobo trotted away in the long loping strides permitted by the low pseudogravity near the axis of rotation of the Ship. |
| pseudopod n. | 1951 Puppet Masters in Galaxy Oct. xix. 140/1 The slug slithered closer. It was a good two feet away when it grew a pseudopod—slowly, at first, a stalk that weaved around like a cobra. Then it lashed out and struck the ape on a foot. |
| raise v. | 1948 Space Cadet 218 They stared at the original entry for ‘raise ship’—but most especially at the year entry in the date column—‘1971.’ |
| raise v. | 1948 Space Cadet 37 ‘Stand by to raise!’ the pilot called out, then looked down to check his passengers. |
| raise v. | 1951 Green Hills of Earth 189 Shake a leg and get out of here. We raise ship at once. |
| raise v. | 1953 Starman Jones 64 If you mess it up, I'll leave you dirtside and raise without you. Let me see you walk again. |
| raise v. | 1939 Misfit in Astounding Science-Fiction Nov. 54/2 Attention! Man all space details; first section. Raise ship in twelve minutes. Close bulkhead doors. |
| rimworld n. | 1957 Citizen of Galaxy in Astounding Science Fiction Nov. 125/2 Hydra was cruising above speed-of-light toward the Rim world Ultima Thule, where she would refuel and start prowling for outlaws. |
| rocketman n. | 1959 Menace From Earth (1968) 115 He held a torcher’s contempt for the vast distance itself. Older pilots thought of interplanetary trips with a rocketman’s bias in terms of years—trips that a torch ship with steady acceleration covered in days. |
| rocketport n. | 1947 ‘It’s Great to Be Back!’ in Green Hills of Earth (1987) 105 They went on up to the subsurface level and took the crosstown slidewalk out to the rocket port. |
| sci-fi adj. | [1949 Letter 1 Oct. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 94 I have two short stories that I am very hot to do, one a bobby-sox for Calling All Girls and one a sci-fic [in published text: sci-fi] short which will probably sell to slick and is a sure sale for pulp. ] |
| shuttle n. | 1951 Between Planets vii. 94 A shuttle ship up from the surface could leave any spot on Venus, rendezvous with the ship in orbit, then land on its port of departure or on any other point having expended a theoretical minimum of fuel. As soon as the Nautilus had parked such shuttles began to swarm up to her. They were more airplane than spaceship, for, although each was sealed and pressurized to operate outside the atmosphere while making contact with orbiting spaceships, each was winged and was powered with ramjet atmosphere engines as well as with rocket jets. Like frogs, they were adapted to two media. |
| skyhook n. 4 | 1982 Friday 1 I have never liked riding the Beanstalk. My distaste was full-blown even before the disaster to the Quito Skyhook. A cable that goes up into the sky with nothing to hold it up smells too much of magic. |
| slidewalk n. | 1948 Space Cadet 2 A pair of slidewalks stretched from the station to the hall; they stepped on to the one running towards the building. The slidewalk was crowded; more boys streamed out of the station behind them. |
| slidewalk n. | 1951 It's Great to be Back! 75 They went on up to the subsurface level and took the crosstown slidewalk out to the rocket port. The slidewalk tunnel broke the surface at one point, becoming a pressurized shed; a view window on the west looked out on the surface of the Moon—and, beyond the hills, the Earth. |
| slideway n. | 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction Apr. 9/1 Hamilton Felix let himself off at the thirteenth level of the Department of Finance, mounted a slideway to the left, and stepped off the strip. |
| slideway n. | 1948 Space Cadet 101 It was, in effect, a wide, brightly lighted street, with a high ceiling and with slideways down the middle. Shops and restaurants lined it. The slideways curved up and away in the distance, for the corridor curved completely around the Station. |
| Sol III n. | 1957 Citizen of Galaxy in Astounding Science Fiction Sept. 18/2 While each planet has its day, its year, its own method of dating, while they are reconciled for science in terms of the standard second as defined by radioactive decay, the standard year of the birthplace of mankind, and a standard reference date, the first jump from that planet, Sol III, to its satellite, it was impossible for an illiterate boy to date anything that way. |
| somewhen adv. | 1941 Elsewhen in Astounding Science Fiction Sept. 114/1 When he ‘landed,’ it was not in the world of the future he had visited twice before. He did not know where he was—on earth, apparently, somewhere and somewhen. |
| somewhen adv. | 1973 Time Enough For Love (1975) 374 If history says that a battle took place at a given location on a particular day, then I’ll be somewhere—or somewhen—far away, sitting in a tavern, drinking beer and pinching the barmaids. |
| space v. 1 | 1956 Time for Stars 44 They know we want to space. If they don’t let us do this, we'll do it any way we can. If we joined your corps, we might come home on leave—but not often. If we emigrate, we might as well be dead; very few emigrants make enough to afford a trip back to Earth, not while their parents are still alive, at least. |
| space v. 2 | 1952 Rolling Stones 49 ‘Grandpa…how would you like to be spaced?’ ‘No future in it. Thin stuff, vacuum. Low vitamin content.’ |
| space v. 2 | 1952 Rolling Stones 244 Sound effect of blow with blunt instrument, groan, and the unmistakable cycling of an air lock—Castor: ‘Sorry, folks. My assistant has just spaced Mr. Rudolf.’ |
| space bum n. | 1947 Green Hills of Earth in Saturday Evening Post 8 Feb. 145/1 On the swing back they set Rhysling down on Mars at Drywater; the boys passed the hat and the skipper kicked in a half month’s pay. That was all—finis—just another space bum who had not had the good fortune to finish it off when his luck ran out. |
| space cadet n. | 1948 (title) Space Cadet. |
| space drive n. | 1947 Rocket Ship Galileo vi. 63 I'll bet he wants to steal your space drive, Uncle Don. |
| spacefaring adj. | 1957 in Astounding Science Fiction Nov. 90/2 The Finstera are not a spacefaring people; there was no possibility that the bogie would be identified as theirs. |
| space lock n. | 1939 Misfit in Astounding Science-Fiction Nov. 56/2 At the starboard spacelock, the kits were put in first, the inner door closed, and the outer opened. When the inner door was opened again the kits were gone—blown out into space by the escaping air. |
| space opera n. | 1948 Letter 6 Nov. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 93 It would be easy enough to cook up another space opera. |
| space travel n. | 1946 Letter 16 Mar. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 43 But I do expect space travel and I expect it soon. |
| space warp n. | 1953 Starman Jones (1975) vii. 78 We sort of duck into a space warp; isn’t that right? |
| space yacht n. | 1956 Double Star in Astounding Science Fiction Mar. 118/1 It was just the amount of audience I wanted, enough to tie it down solid that ‘Mr. Bonforte’ had arrived by official car and had left for his space yacht. |
| spacing n. 1 | 1956 Time for Stars iii. 36 There would be no spacing for the twin left behind, not even inside the Solar System…and I had never even been to the Moon. |
| speculative fiction n. 1 | 1947 On Writing of Speculative Fiction in L. A. Eshbach Of Worlds Beyond 11 There are at least two principal ways to write speculative fiction—write about people, or write about gadgets. |
| speculative fiction n. 1 | 1949 Letter 4 Mar. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 49 Speculative fiction (I prefer that term to science fiction) is also concerned with sociology, psychology, esoteric aspects of biology, impact of terrestrial culture on the other cultures we may encounter when we conquer space, etc., without end. |
| speculative fiction n. 1 | 1949 Letter 4 Mar. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 49 Speculative fiction is not fantasy fiction, as it rules out the use of anything as material which violates established scientific fact, laws of nature, call it what you will, i.e., it must [be] possible to the universe as we know it. Thus, Wind in the Willows is fantasy, but the much more incredible extravaganzas of Dr. Olaf Stapledon are speculative fiction—science fiction. |
| speculative fiction n. 1 | 1972 Letter 20 Jan. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 245 I have written almost every sort of thing—filler paragraphs, motion picture and TV scripts, poetry… I found that what I did enjoy and did best was speculative fiction. I do not think that this is just a happy coincidence. |
| stasis field n. | 1942 Beyond This Horizon in Astounding Science-Fiction Apr. 31/1 Monroe-Alpha began to understand what they were talking about. It was the so-called Adirondack stasis field. It had been a three-day wonder when it was discovered, a generation earlier, in a remote part of the mountains from which it got its name. |
| subetheric adj. | 1940 Letter 23 Feb. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 7 I would be interested in taking a crack at your idea of scientists going insane over the uncertainty of truth in the ‘sub-etheric’ field. |
| suit up v. | 1948 Black Pits of Luna in G. Conklin Possible Worlds of Science Fiction (1951) 26 I’ll go with you. Let’s suit up. |
| system-wide adj. | 1963 Podkayne of Mars 12 She holds a system-wide license as a Master Engineer, Heavy Construction, Surface or Free Fall. |
| tanstaafl n. | 1966 Moon Is a Harsh Mistress in Worlds of If Feb. 108/2 '"Oh, "tanstaafl." Means "There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch." And isn’t,' I added, pointing to a FREE LUNCH sign across room, 'or these drinks would cost half as much.' |
| Terrestrial n. 1 | 1950 Farmer in Sky (1975) ix. 100 He said that ‘M-G’ meant ‘mutation-Ganymede’ and the other meant ‘normal terrestrial.’ |
| terrestrian adj. | 1953 Starman Jones (1975) vii. 71 The only extra-terrestrial among Max’s charges was a spider puppy from the terrestrian planet Hespera. |
| thionite n. | 1980 Number of the Beast (1981) xxxvi. 391 ‘Lensman,’ Deety said quickly, ‘we have medical drugs. The only one that could interest you is a few milligrams of morphine. — But we carry no thionite, no bentlam, no hadive, no nitrolabe. You are using your Lens; you know that I’m telling the truth.’ |
| tie-in n. | 1961 Letter 17 Mar. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 233 The Sound of His Wings…has an SF tie-in through my ‘Future History’ chart without being tagged as ‘science fiction’. |
| time binding n. | 1941 Methuselah’s Children in Astounding Science-Fiction July 29/2 If mankind lived as long as a thousand years, it would be necessary to invent some totally different method of memory association in order to be effectively time-binding. |
| Titanian adj. | 1951 Puppet Masters in Galaxy Science Fiction Nov. xxvi. 124/1 At first sight, the similarities between the Titanian people and ourselves are more noticeable than the differences; we impress what we expect to see on what we do see. Take the pretty little ‘mouth’ for example—how was I to know that it was an organ for breathing solely? |
| torch n. | 1950 Satellite Scout in Boy’s Life Sept. 28 The Mayflower was top shaped. The point of the top was her jet—Chief Engineer Ortega, who showed us around, called it her ‘torch’. |
| torch n. | 1953 Sky Lift in Imagination Nov. 19/1 The idea that anyone but a torcher could work a torch ballistic did not sink in. |
| torch n. | 1953 Sky Lift in Imagination Nov. 14/2 The conversion chamber of a torch was a tiny sun; particles expelled from it approached the speed of light. |
| torch n. | 1956 Time for Stars vi. 60 From the air the Lewis and Clark looked like a basket-ball floating in water; you could not see that it was really shaped like a turnip. It floated with the torch down; the hemispherical upper part was all that showed. |
| torch n. | 1959 Menace From Earth (1968) 115 Gentlemen, it’s a job for torch pilots. I must ask for volunteers. |
| torch v. | 1956 Double Star in Astounding Science Fiction Feb. 29/2 About seventeen seconds and a gnat’s wink after we make contact the Go For Broke will torch for Mars…for we’ve got to be there by Wednesday. |
| torch v. | 1956 Double Star in Astounding Mar. 104/1 I let myself be shanghaied aboard the spaceship Tom Paine and we were torching for Mars. |
| torcher n. | 1953 Sky Lift in Imagination Nov. 8/2 He held a torcher’s contempt for the vast distance itself. Older pilots thought of interplanetary trips with a rocketman’s bias, in terms of years—trips that a torchship with steady acceleration covered in days. |
| torcher n. | 1953 Sky Lift in Imagination Nov. 19/1 The idea that anyone but a torcher could work a torch ballistic did not sink in. |
| torcher n. | 1956 Time for Stars viii. 83 Another school pointed to the companion equations for length and mass, maintaining that the famous Michelson-Morley experiment showed that the length transformation was ‘real’ and pointing out that the increase of mass was regularly computed and used for particle-accelerator ballistics and elsewhere in nuclear physics—for example, in the torch that pushes this ship. |
| torcher n. | 1956 Time for Stars vii. 72 I stood two watches down in the damping room, whereupon Chief Engineer Roch stated in writing that he did not think that I would ever make a torcher as I seemed to have an innate lack of talent for nuclear physics. |
| torchship n. | 1953 Sky Lift in Imagination Nov. 8/2 He held a torcher’s contempt for the vast distance itself. Older pilots thought of interplanetary trips with a rocketman’s bias, in terms of years—trips that a torch ship with steady acceleration covered in days. |
| torchship n. | 1956 Double Star in Astounding Science Fiction Feb. 29/2 The Can Do—that’s this bucket—is about to rendezvous with the Go For Broke, which is a high-gee torchship. |
| Venerian n. 1 | 1948 Space Cadet 183 His first impression was a crowd of Venerians surrounding the pool. |
| Venerian n. 1 | 1948 Space Cadet 181 A triangular head, large as a collie’s, broke water about ten feet from them. Tex jumped. The Venerian regarded him with shiny, curious eyes. |
| Venerian n. 1 | 1950 Farmer in Sky (1975) xx. 216 The Venerians don’t use pictures, nor the Martians. |
| Venerian n. 1 | 1956 Double Star (1957) 127 I was knocked out the first time when we finally put the eetees—Venerians and Martians and Outer Jovians—into the Grand Assembly. But the nonhuman peoples are still there and I came back. |
| Venerian n. 2 | 1948 Space Cadet 233 Oscar swore softly in Venerian. ‘They can do anything!’ |
| Venerian adj. | 1948 Space Cadet 183 Young Burke had then undertaken to negotiate exploitation rights with the local Venerian authorities in order to hold the valuable claim against other exploiters who were sure to follow. |
| Venerian adj. | 1951 Green Hills of Earth 180 No one has ever translated ‘Green Hills’ into the lisping Venerian speech; no Martian ever croaked and whispered it in the dry corridors. |
| vibroblade n. | 1940 If This Goes On— in Astounding Science-Fiction Feb. 18/1 He won’t come to…. I slipped a vibroblade between his ribs. |
| viewphone n. | 1942 Waldo in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 31/1 He cut in another viewphone circuit. ‘Get me Chief Engineer Stevens at North American Power-Air,’ he said sharply. |
| viewphone n. | 1942 Waldo in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 32/2 I mean that he will not talk over the viewphone under any circumstances whatsoever, to you or to anyone. He says that he is sorry not to accommodate you, but that he is opposed to everything of that nature—cameras, cinécams, television, and so forth. |
| visiplate n. | 1950 Farmer in Sky (1975) viii. 83 The rest of the ship was cut in by visiplate. |
| waldo n. | 1942 Waldo in Astounding Science-Fiction Aug. 16/2 Even the…humanoid gadgets known universally as ‘waldoes’…passed through several generations of development…in Waldo’s machine shop before he redesigned them for mass production. The first of them…had been designed to enable Waldo to operate a metal lathe. |
| warp v. | 1950 Farmer in Sky (1975) iv. 52 The little line was followed by a heavier line and then they warped us together, slowly. |
| warship n. | 1966 Moon is a Harsh Mistress in Worlds of If Apr. 150/1 Repeating news while warning everybody that battle was not over, a warship would be back in our sky any moment—be ready for anything. |
| xenobiologist n. | 1954 Star Lummox in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction May 60 Once the xenobiologists got their hands on Lummox they would never let him go. |
| xenobiology n. | 1954 Star Lummox in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction May 60 I have never taken any interest in xenobiology. |
| xenology n. | 1954 Star Lummox in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction May 27 I meant to major in xenology and exotic biology in college. |
| zero-gravity n. | 1963 Podkayne of Mars in Worlds of If Jan. 68/2 Bergitta really knew how to handle herself in zero gravity, with unabrupt graceful movements like a dancer in a slow-motion solly. |