verse

[Victor Steinbok]

Has anyone noticed/commented on the increasing sci-fi usage of txting
style "verse" for "universe"? This appears to be more common in film
(Chronicles of Riddick) and TV (Firefly) than printed books, but it can
be found in print too. There are variations--multiverse, alterverse,
metaverse, etc. Or did I miss some large body of work that has been
doing this for generations?

Wiki has an entry for multiverse/metaverse. There is a page on
multiverse theory at the Pomona astronomy department (the theory has
been around at least since the 1920, but the reference to it as
"multiverse" is more recent). There is use of "multi-verse" in
philosophy (http://goo.gl/OgFRW) and physics (http://goo.gl/nyrAp).

There is some question--at least, in my mind--as to whether the meaning
of "verse" in the title of this page is textual or futuristic:

http://goo.gl/dlK4V
Next verse, same as the first

The context is a projection of what it might be like at the University
of Arizona campus in 125 years. If "first verse" refers to the first 125
years of UA history, then the meaning appears to be more textual--but
the fact that I even need to ask the question is suggestive. Twenty
years ago, I doubt there would be many people who would even have
considered the possibility of alternative meaning.

Any kind of text search would obviously be hampered by the
literary/religious/musical versions of "verse". Obviously, it's not in
dictionaries.

     VS-)

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