"slang" and "informal" as dict labels

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated 2/24/03 2:13:41 AM Eastern Standard Time,
salovex at WPO.CSO.NIU.EDU writes:

> In all the exchanges on "SF" vs. "Sci Fi", I've been looking for someone to
>  acknowledge the term that antedates both. I believe it was Hugo Gernsback,
>  perhaps in the late 1920s, who called the genre "STF" and/or
>  "scientifiction".

While I am aware of the terms "STF" and "scientificition", the only time I
recall ever having heard either of them (other than in historical surveys of
SF) was in the title of a filksong, "Poor STF is daid" (tune is "Poor Jud is
daid" from "Oklahoma").

Also, I find it surprising that M-W 10th Collegiate dates "science fiction"
as 1851.

     - Jim Landau