[Ads-l] ship, v. (2000-01)

Tue Aug 16 15:58:29 UTC 2016

Regarding "ship" as a verb: Apparently, The X-Files Official magazine,
Winter 1998, ran a poll under the title "To Ship, or not to Ship?" It
was mentioned in x-files Usenet groups by early December 1998. The
title by itself was somewhat ambiguous, but the accompanying text made
the meaning clear. Here are some links and excerpts.

This link points to the Way Back Machine snapshot of an article about
the poll. The snapshot was taken May 4 1999, but the poll, as
mentioned, appeared in the The X-Files Official magazine, Winter 1998.
(This should be checked in hard copy, if possible.)

https://web.archive.org/web/19990504044427/http://www.idealists.simplenet.com/articles/txfarts/shippoll.html

[Begin excerpt]
To Ship or Not To Ship?
By Gina McIntyre, Editor The Official Magazine

To Ship, or not to Ship?" - That is the question we asked readers in
Issue 7. And answer in droves they did, with a loud and resounding,
"YES!" For those unfamiliar with the "shippers" (short for
relationshippers) argument, allow me to surmise: Mulder and Scully
should become involved in an overtly romantic capacity RIGHT NOW! The
crux of their argument is that as the two agents enter their sixth
season together as devoted partners, they share a love for one another
that can no longer remain confined inside the boundaries of a platonic
relationship. Their motto: "Why don't they do it and get it over
with?"
[End excerpt]

Here is a Usenet message mentioning the "To ship or not to ship poll"
on Dec 5, 1998.

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/it.fan.x-files/cZJpxrutGxY/AClskwj9pL0J

[Begin message]
From: "kilini" <kil... at nospamiol.it>
Subject: To ship or not to ship poll USA (da Mel in trasferta)
Date: 1998/12/05
Message-ID: <74c9ja$dcf$1 at hermes.iol.it>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 419046973
Organization: Italia Online
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.2106.4
Newsgroups: it.fan.x-files

http://idealists.simplenet.com/articles/txfarts/shippoll.html

Haven of the FBI most unwanted

Il risultato e' stato SI', OVVIAMENTE:P
Interessante il punto di vista NoRomo dell'articolista:-)
Mel

To Ship or Not To Ship?
By Gina McIntyre, Editor The Official Magazine

To Ship, or not to Ship?" - That is the question we asked readers in Issue
7. And answer in droves they did, with a loud and resounding, "YES!" For
those unfamiliar with the "shippers" (short for relationshippers) argument,
allow me to surmise: Mulder and Scully should become involved in an overtly
romantic capacity RIGHT NOW! The crux of their argument is that as the two
agents enter their sixth season together as devoted partners, they share a
love for one another that can no longer remain confined inside the
boundaries of a platonic relationship. Their motto: "Why don't they do it
and get it over with?"
[End message]

Below are two more Usenet articles.

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.tv.x-files/zJfDd8ofngE/wGtVd5qKGw8J

[Begin message]
From: "Mick Swan" <swa... at mediaone.net>
Subject: to ship or not to ship??
Date: 1998/12/07
Organization: Northeast Region--MediaOne
NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 19:34:06 EDT
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files

Ok...I am so out of the loop here.....how do I know if I am a shipper or
not!!! I am losing sleep over this...is it good??? is it bad??? Who will
explain this to me??!?!?!?

-mick swan

just a ordinary NH phile
[End message]

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.tv.x-files/zJfDd8ofngE/-eB5TnrsGbMJ

[Begin message]
From: christy <celli... at snet.net>
Subject: Re: to ship or not to ship??
Date: 1998/12/08
Organization: "SNET dial access service"
Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files

Mick Swan wrote:
>
> Ok...I am so out of the loop here.....how do I know if I am a shipper or
> not!!! I am losing sleep over this...is it good??? is it bad??? Who will
> explain this to me??!?!?!?

Its a good thing! Shippers come in all shapes and sizes, but all agree
that Mulder and Scully are in love and eventually want them to get
together romantically on the show. Some want it now, others want it to
wait until the last ep. Some think sex must be explicitly involved,
others are happy with sex being implied or ambiguous.

If you don't see the love between our heroes, you fall in the noromo
camp.

If you aren't sure, or prefer the UST, you are probably a fence sitter.

If you simply don't care one way or the other as long as the show stays
good, then you are a ....I dunno what you are. We don't have any labels
to put on you. Just a fan/phile maybe?

christy, who is most definitely a shipper
SAC, KickAss! Women's Brigade, ATXF Shipper Division
[End message]

Garson

On Tue, Aug 16, 2016 at 10:36 AM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> OED3 has a first cite of 2005 for the verb "ship" = 'To discuss, portray,
> or advocate a romantic pairing of (two characters who appear in a work of
> (serial) fiction), esp. when such a pairing is not depicted in the original
> work.' A Merriam-Webster "Words We're Watching" post also dates it to 2005:
>
> http://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/ship-words-were-watching
>
> The verbal noun "shipping" dates to 1997, from a Usenet post about "The
> X-Files." ("Shipper" appeared on Usenet the previous year, from
> "relationshipper.") So it shouldn't have taken too long for fans to come up
> with the backformation "ship."
>
> Antedatings for the verb can be found in forums for "Harry Potter" fans,
> including on Yahoo Groups. Here's the earliest I've found so far:
>
> -----
> Sara Beth Brooks, Harry Potter fanfiction (Yahoo Group), Nov. 5, 2000
> And as to Ron/Harry shippers- let 'em ship. [...] As long as no one forces
> me to read and Ron/Harry stories, I'm perfectly fine with letting them ship
> all they want.
> https://beta.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ParadigmOfUncertainty/conversations/topics/3888
> -----
>
> And from the same author, later that day:
>
> -----
> If you want to ship for m/m or f/f, dammit, ship.  Just don't make me ship
> with you.
> https://beta.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ParadigmOfUncertainty/conversations/topics/3894
> -----
>
> Note that "ship" at this point was intransitive -- later usage has the
> romantic pairing as the object of the verb (typically as "X/Y", "X and Y",
> or "X with Y"). I can't decide if this one is transitive or intransitive:
>
> -----
> Allison, H/H Shippers Anonymous (Yahoo Group), Apr. 21, 2001
> My personal two favorite ways to ship are of course H/H and D/G.
> https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/HHShippersAnonymous/conversations/messages/1
> [may require subscribing to read]
> -----
>
> This one is more clearly transitive:
>
> -----
> Lia, Harry Potter fanfiction (Yahoo Group), Oct. 4, 2001
> I ship Hermione with almost anyone.
> https://beta.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ParadigmOfUncertainty/conversations/messages/12241
> -----
>
> --bgz
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org