"stan" = obsessive fan

[Benjamin Zimmer]

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http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2009/02/02/stans_vs_haters/
Stans vs. haters
When it comes to celebrities, everyone's got an opinion - a strong one
By Vanessa E. Jones
Globe Staff / February 2, 2009

Jessika DuBay of Somerville loves Kim Kardashian so much that a
picture of the model serves as wallpaper on her work computer. DuBay
endures Kardashian's E! reality show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians"
even though she finds the program "kind of dull." A copy of the
Playboy issue in which Kardashian appears on the cover is stashed in
the closet of the home DuBay shares with her husband. "I'm completely
obsessed with her," DuBay says unapologetically.

DuBay, 28, is less enthralled with "The View" cohost Elisabeth
Hasselbeck, who has gained notoriety in recent months for strongly
voicing her Republican opinions. DuBay loves the show but finds
Hasselbeck frustrating. "I don't think there's one thing she's said on
the show that I agree with," DuBay says. "It's completely opposite of
what I think, and her approach to it is maddening to me. She's one of
the ones always talking over people. I know she's always on the
defense, but the way she goes about it is really, really maddening."

In colloquial parlance, DuBay is a Kardashian stan and a Hasselbeck
hater. A "stan," named after Eminem's hit song about an ardent fan who
commits suicide, is a rabid fan of a celebrity. A "hater" is a person
who always points out someone's flaws. The terms have gained
prominence on urban blogs, says Renaldo Hagood, founder of SoulBounce,
a blog about soul music that asked its readers which was worse, haters
or stans. "When it comes to black entertainment, people we love and
are tired of, everyone has an opinion on it," Hagood says. "People can
say what they want without any accountability."

[etc.]
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--Ben Zimmer

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