ship, shipping, shippers, shipwar, shipping war, shipable

[Jeff Prucher]

Brave New Words has "shipper" from a May 8, 1996 post to alt.tv.xfiles: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!searchin/alt.tv.x-files/frasier$20tom/alt.tv.x-files/VxNnwcmWYxY/TKbp1rxwbcsJ


Note that this has a reference to a "'shippers list", which implies an earlier coinage. I have no idea whether this was a listserv or what, however.


Interestingly, BNW has May 7 as the date. I have no idea whether I committed a transcription error, or whether the date displayed has changed for some reason. Google Groups search was simpler in 2006 when I was doing that research.


I didn't cover the derivative forms; I'm not entirely sure why not, but many of them probably arose only after "shipper" had left the realm of SF media fandom, which made them poorer candidates for BNW; "shipping" et al. are now the jargon of media fandom writ large, much the same as "fanfic", "slash", etc. have become.


Jeff Prucher


>________________________________
> From: ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Sent: Thursday, May 23, 2013 6:59 AM
>Subject: ship, shipping, shippers, shipwar, shipping war, shipable
>
>
>---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>Subject:      ship, shipping, shippers, shipwar, shipping war, shipable
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>"shipper" has a specialized meaning in fandom. It dates back to 1996
>but I do not see it in the ADS archives.
>
>Fanlore wiki: Shipping
>http://fanlore.org/wiki/Shipping
>Wiki stub for shipping created September 29 2008
>
>[Begin excerpt]
>The term originated in the X-Files fandom, where viewers who wanted to
>see a romantic relationship between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully were
>dubbed "relationshippers," or "shippers." Some were self-described
>intellishippers. It was also used on discussion groups for Lois and
>Clark, where "shippers" were those who were pushing for the pair to
>get together romantically onscreen.
>[End excerpt]
>
>Wikipedia has an entry for Shipping (fandom)
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipping_%28fandom%29
>[Begin excerpt]
>The term for a fan of shipping also evolved:[2] from
>relationshipper,[3][4] R'shipper,[5] 'shipper, and finally just
>shipper.[6]
>[End excerpt]
>
>Here is a cite that seems to be one day before the cite in Wikipedia
>for "shippers". The search engine for Google Groups is deeply broken,
>so I have no idea what's best.
>
>From: ejo... at mail.alliance.net (Eric Johns)
>Subject: Re: The Relationship/Antirelationship Debate
>Date: May 18 1996
>newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files
>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.tv.x-files/xEtYA9yDQOc/vt19YHPy7twJ
>
>[Begin excerpt]
>You see, this is precisely what we relationshippers DON'T
>want...Scully and Mulder have so much depth, so much meaning, and so
>much devotion to each other and what they do together that a night of
>cheap sex would taint it all.  There is a purity in their commitment
>to each other that we shippers revel in.
>[End excerpt]
>
>
>Urban dictionary has shipper fom May 2, 2003
>http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shipper
>
>Urban dictionary has shipping fom  Mar 6, 2005
>http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shipping
>
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>
>
>

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