Origin of the Term "Sci-Fi"

[Fred Shapiro]

On Mon, 17 Feb 2003, James A. Landau wrote:

> The term "sci-fi" (which I understand was coined by Forrest J. Ackerman

The OED's first use for "sci-fi" is dated 1955.  I e-mailed Ackerman and
got a response from his assistant setting forth details of FJA's 1954
published usage, which I then contributed to the OED.  The Ackerman web
site indicates that Robert Heinlein used the term in a 1947 private
letter.  I tried to get a usable citation to that letter for OED, but
Ackerman's assistant was not able to provide me with anything.

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
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