ACRONYMS (and things that look like them) (Note: the purpose of this list is to provide folks with a place where they can find out what all of those strange acronyms they see in here mean without having to write a lot of "What is that?" messages (good- ness knows we've enough traffic in here already.) Please don't deluge me with obscure acronyms unless they're actively in use in here...) AFAIK: As Far As I Know APA: Amateur Press Association. Sort of like this bulletin board only each member prints up his/her own comments and passes them to the Official Collator (or Official Editor) to fasten together and distribute copies to members. Most appear monthly or quarterly, but there is at least one yearly one (WOOF - the Worldcon apa) and a weekly (gisp) one, APA-L, collated and distributed at LASFS meetings. AWGTHTGTTA?: Are We Going To Have To Go Through This Again? Alternative form is AWGTHTGTATA (...Through ALL This Again?). BNF: Big Name Fan BOOF: A typo for "book" which appears to have caught on. It means "book". BTW: By The Way DUFF and TAFF: Respectively the Down Under Fan Fund and the Trans Atlantic Fan Fund (funds to import fen from same for World- cons.) A Mid Atlantic Fan Fund for well known fuggheads is occasionally suggested... DUOE: Dried-Up Old Eunuch. To quote Jo Peshek "An organization of folks who have thoughts about things other than sex. We do occasionally think about sex, but it isn't an exclusive subject in our lives. In other words, we have brains as well as hormones." FBT: Frigging Blue Turtleoid. Refers to the gigantic blue six legged turtle like critter with several people tied to its back which appears on the cover of John DeChancie's novel, CASTLE KIDNAPPED. It does not appear anywhere INSIDE the book. (Upon his visit to the LA, John was presented with a Super Sculpy model of an FBT by yours truly which may ex- plain why he has gone home again, heh, heh...) FIAWOL: Fandom Is A Way Of Life FIJAGH: Fandom Is Just A Ghoddam Hobby (or possibly "Ghu-dam hobby" if you're into invoking fannish ghods [personally I like The Great Spider or The Church of Herbangelism - "Praise Herbie and Pass the Buck"], note also the fannish insertion of silent "h"s into things, such as "bheer".) FIJASOI: Fandom is Just Another Source of Income FITB = Fill In The Blank.... FYI: For Your Information GAFIATE: Get Away From It All (as in drop out of Fandom) GIWIST: Gee I Wish I'd Said That IITYWIMWYBMAD: If I tell you what it means, will you buy me a drink? IMHO: In My Humble Opinion. Also IMNSHO: In My Not-So Humble Opinion and IMOBO: In My Own Biased Opinion. INPO: In No Particular Order LASFS: The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, which is the oldest continuously meeting science fantasy society in this world. Founded on October 27th, 1934, it settled on weekly Thursday meetings by the end of 1939, and has an unbroken record ever since, including Thanksgivings. It can current- ly be found at: 11513 Burbank Blvd., N. Hollywood, CA 91601 telephone (818) 760-9234. LLTA: Lots and Lots of Thunderous (or Thundering) Applause LOL: Laughing Out Loud NASFiC: North American Science Fiction Convention (aka North AmeriCon) OOK!: This is not an acronym - it's the abbreviated form of Ook ook slobber drool!" This started out as "Ook ook!" which Ed Buchman introduced to the LASFS claiming a strange lady told him it meant "your pleasure centers had been diddled." He soon modified it to the longer form. Lee Gold, who was LASFS secretary at the time says that once at a LASFS auction when Pelz was auctioning off a thingie looking like a toilet bowl and lid, Ed exclaimed "Ook Ook Slobber Drool!", Bruce asked Lee for a definition, and Lee defined it as a bid amount. So an "Ook" is worth $.50, a "Slobber" is $.75 and a "Drool" is $1, and OOSD = $2.75. OOTC: Obligatory On Topic Comment POV: Point Of View ROFLASTC! (or ROFLASC!): Rolling On The Floor Laughing And Scar- ing The Cat. Originated, I'm told by Pamela Dean, who types with a cat on her lap. RSN: Real Soon Now RTFM: Read The Fershlugginer Manual SFBC: Science Fiction Book Club SFWA: Science Fiction Writers of America SMOF: Secret Masters of Fandom SPAM: SPiced hAM or something like that. A brand of semiedible canned meat referred to in a famous Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch. ST:TOS, ST:TNG: Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation TANJ: There Ain't No Justice TANSTAAFL: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch TINAR: This Is Not A Review TPTB: The Powers That Be TTBOMK: To The Best Of My Knowledge TTFN: Ta Ta For Now. WAMKSAM: Why Are My Kids (or Kitties) Staring At Me? WYLABOCTGWTR, WYLASOMWTC: Would You Like A Bowl Of Cream To Go With That Remark?, Would You Like A Saucer Of Milk With That Comment? Created by Steven Brust (& common in Minneapa) YATI: Yet Another Trek Inconsistency YMMV: Your mileage may vary. y'yin quap'je: A Klingon salutation used by Gary Akins, it trans- lates approximately as "survive and succeed".