Trekker POTUS?

[Garson O'Toole]

I read more than a decade ago that fans of the show preferred the term
trekkers. (However, both terms are on the euphemism treadmill, I
suspect, and alternate terms may be preferred in the future.)

The (sometimes accurate) Wikipedia has an entry for Trekkie with a
sub-section titled "Trekkie vs. Trekker". A distinction was reportedly
being advanced by 1976:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trekkie

[Begin excerpt]
Trekkie is "frequently depreciative"[40] and is thus "not an
acceptable term to serious fans",[41] who prefer Trekker. The
distinction existed as early as May 1970, when the editor of fanzine
Deck 6 wrote:

    ...when I start acting like a bubble-headed trekkie (rather than a
sober, dignified—albeit enthusiastic—trekker).[2]:4[42]

By 1976, media reports on Star Trek conventions acknowledged the two
types of fans:[43]

    One Trekkie came by and felt compelled to explain, while paying
for his Mr. Spock computer image, that he was actually a Trekker (a
rational fan). Whereas, he said, a Trekkie worships anything connected
with Star Trek and would sell his or her mother for a pair of Spock
ears.[25]
[End excerpt]


On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 6:27 PM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Trekker POTUS?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I've heard both "trekkers" and "trekkies" in the US. (Not sure about Canada.
> I don't think it's come up in conversation since I've moved here.)
>
> I've also heard both terms used disparagingly. A self-identified "trekker"
> will say that "trekkies" are the insane fans, and vice versa. There doesn't
> seem to be any agreement on which term is the positive and which is the
> negative.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Victor Steinbok
> Sent: Friday, August 24, 2012 5:47 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Trekker POTUS?
>
> The only "serious fans of the show" whom I know to have identified
> themselves as "trekkers" are Australians. AFAIK US and Canada has
> "trekkies", as previously remarked upon. Of course, someone who's been a
> closeted, isolated fan might not know that. But that would have made him an
> OJ trial juror, not POTUS.
>
>      VS-)
>
> On 8/24/2012 4:00 PM, Michael Everson wrote:
>> What's wrong with being a serious fan of the show?
>>
>> Michael Everson * http://www.evertype.com/
>
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