faanish adj.
of or relating to fandom, esp. on a superficial level; typical of a faan n.
Also in variants with differing number of as.
Fancyclopedia
SF Fandom
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1951 in Quandry (#13) Aug.–Sept. 2
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Lee Hoffman
Short satirical fiction or faanish fiction, articles, etc. wanted.
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1955 Wetzcon in Void (#5) 29
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Gregory Benford
Ellis thought it would be a daring stunt to give the ticket man a real faaaaaanish quote card instead of the fakefan things sold by the management.
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1959 Waldo (#1) Dec. 14
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Frank is a fount of information regarding s-f, and a living example that s-f fans are faanish.
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1961 Xero (#3) Jan. 4
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The first two were ‘big’ cons, of the type Ray’s proposed big organization would sponsor, and the others were noted ‘faanish’ cons.
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1967 Algol (#12) 18 Mar. 67
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His major objection to fannish fans is that they criticize his writing; having one of the big names of ‘faanish’ fandom tear it to shreds will simply make matters worse.
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1975 Fillostrated Fan Dictionary 4
Elliot Weinstein
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A few of the copies will be sent to Linguistics departments in a few universities. I realize that this is not a very faanish stunt, but rather more sercon.
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1983 Letter in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Dec. 157/2
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I don’t mean to suggest heavyweight lumps such as appear in Extrapolations, nor naively ‘faanish’ dreck, but rather…readable criticism.
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1996 Ed Wood in Science Fiction Chronicle Oct. 40/1 (obituary)
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Andrew Porter
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A lifelong sercon—serious constructive—fan, rather than a faanish one, he was a co-founder of Advent:Publishers, whose many works over the years include such seminal works as Damon Knight’s In Search of Wonder, Robert Bloch’s The Eighth Stage of Fandom, Lloyd Eshbach’s Of Worlds Beyond, Alva Rogers’s A Requiem for Astounding and Alexei Panshin’s Heinlein in Dimension.
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1997 Tom Perry in Science Fiction Chronicle Oct. 22/2 (obituary)
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Andrew Porter
Gary Farber
bibliography
Tom’s zines were like his writing: always thoughtful, carefully done, fannish, yet substantive and of import. He combined the faanish touch of a Lee Hoffman or a Bob Tucker with the care and weight of a Redd Boggs.
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2002 Reference Guide to Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror (2nd ed.) 453
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Robert Reginald
Lisa R. Bartle
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At times, the author’s attempts at levity outweigh any measure of analysis in the entries, which thus often degenerate into faannish-style reviews rather than real critiques.
Research requirements
antedating 1951
Earliest cite
Lee Hoffman, in Quandry.
Research History
Bee Ostrowsky submitted 1996 and 1997 cites from obituaries in the Science Fiction Chronicle.Jeff Prucher submitted a 1951 cite from Lee Hoffman in Quandry.
Jeff Prucher submitted a 1955 cite from Greg Benford in Void.
Last modified 2026-03-25 13:32:42
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.