Feghoots site

[Baker, John]

        The F&SF contest was not a generic usage.  In fact, Grendel
Briarton/Reginald Bretnor (I forget which is the real name and which the
pseudonym) was listed as a co-author of the published entries in order
to protect his rights.

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Jeff Prucher
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 12:53 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Feghoots site

--- Harrold Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Harrold Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Feghoots site
>
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-------
>
> I tend to forget how old I am. The first feghoots appeared more than
> half a century ago, when I was in high school. That's plenty of time
> for a proper name to become generic. Unfortunately, I'm at the age at
> which over fifty years ago... Why, it seems like only yesterday!

The earliest citation I have for the generic use is from an Isaac Asimov
editorial from 1980 -- about halfway between the first Feghoot story
(1956) and today; he refers to such stories as "Ferdinand Feghoots".
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (where the first, non-generic
Feghoots appeared) apparently ran a contest in 1973, asking readers to
submit their own Feghoots, but it's unclear to me (not having examined
the contest rules or results) whether this is a generic usage or not.

Jeff Prucher



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