Talk:Skiffy

Monty Python
Is this article about the written word "skiffy" or the pronunciation of "sci-fi" as "skiffy?" I ask becasue it identifies the term as dating from the late 1970s. However, there is a Monty Python sketch (unfortunately, I cannot recall the episode right now) in which Michael Palin as a presenter refers to a previous SF-themed skit as "skiffy." 165.91.64.227 (talk) 01:22, 5 May 2009 (UTC)RKH

Rewrite needed
I think it's inappropriate to call it a "pejorative" term. Especially when that then has to be followed with at "ALT MEANING" section to clarify that sometimes it's not. I don't think it was ever particularly exclusively pejorative--although it is and was almost always ironic. But what, exactly, was being ironed depended on the perspective of the speaker.

It arose out of the Great Debates on whether the term "sci-fi" was acceptable. Populists were perfectly happy with "sci-fi", or whatever, while the most extreme elitists insisted that even "science fiction" was inappropriate--the "proper" term was "speculative fiction". And the elitists decided that "sci-fi" (not "skiffy") was a pejorative. Then there was debate over how you pronounce "sci-fi" (you don't say "science fEYEction"). From all this, the term "skiffy" was born. Populists liked it because it was funny and underlined how silly the whole debate on nomenclature was. Elitists liked it because it gave them an elite, insiders' way to say "sci-fi" (which to them was already a pejorative).

A little googling will turn up many instances of writers calling themselves "skiffy writers" and the like. I think the whole article should be rewritten from a more WP:NPOV perspective, without so many conclusions that smack of WP:OR. I've added a couple of interesting links. If I find the time, I may take a stab at a rewrite, but I wanted to put down my objections to the article as it stands, while I'm here. Heck, maybe someone out there actually cares! :) Xtifr 07:37, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

Rewrite done
Well, since no one leaped up to do the rewrite I suggested above a few months ago, I went ahead and took a stab at it myself. It could use more references, but I think what I wrote is a good first pass. Xtifr tälk 23:57, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Mild edits
Made origins a bit more precise--Heinlein used the term before Ackerman adopted it for public use; added source for origin of "skiffy" pronunciation among serious fans and writers. RLetson 19:40, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Cool! Good work, thanks! --Xtifr tälk 01:55, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Actually, somebody took a look at the letter in which Heinlein purportedly used the dreaded term, and discovered that he had typed "sci-fic" not "sci-fi"; I've edited the article to reflect this debunking. -- Orange Mike  &#x007C;   Talk  15:06, 21 May 2009 (UTC)
 * More on origins: although the Oxford English Dictionary sf citations project currently has no "skiffy" reference before 1982. Ansible contains a 1980 instance here, which I have verified from the print edition. Fan sources ascribe "skiffy" to Terry Carr circa 1974. I'm trying to track this down. --DeafMan (talk) 19:13, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I've also seen it attributed to Susan Wood (plus one stray attribution to Avedon Carol). -- Orange Mike  &#x007C;   Talk  19:58, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Minor Edit
I deleted the term "more literate" for the New Wave, since it implies that Heinlein, Asimov et al, were "less literate". -- Noclevername 21:59, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Heinlein
While I'd be surprised if he coined the term, didn't Heinlein himself spend a certain amount of ink promoting the use of "Speculative Fiction"? Brennen 18:24, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Colbert Refference
While probably not a direct reference to this term. Colbert recently cited the change of Sci-Fi channel to SyFy and commended the station for spelling the word how it was pronounced. He then followed it up by saying "SciFi? How do you pronounce that? Skiffy?" 68.210.227.184 (talk) 06:08, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

Some prominent members of the University of Chicago "Skiffy" science fiction club
In the 1990's, Skiffy, the University of Chicago's science fiction club included future authors John Scalzi, Richard Garfinkle, and Mary Anne Mohanraj and roleplaying game designer Ken Hite. Artemis-Arethusa (talk) 13:25, 28 September 2009 (UTC)