Simplifyd Spelng

In these days of texting, fanwriters' efforts at abbreviations and simplifiyd spelng seem paltry. The variants on conventional English spelling used in fan correspondence and fanzines were rarely consistent, never universal and sometimes inadvertent.

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

(Ackrmn) Generally speaking, the spelling reforms that have been proposed by progressives from Franklin and Webster thru Theodore Roosevelt down to the present day. Fans are somewhat in advance of general practice in this regard, as witness the use of such constructions as tho and thru in this dictionary. Speer originally used an even more radical form, with substitution of f for ph, suppression of gh's and other silent letters, ktp. However, even when following simplifyd rules orthodox spelling will be used when otherwise creations so barbarous as to divert attention from the text would be produced. Even with Ackese abandoned, Ackerman carried it to an extreme, as witness: "After sorting for days & days after the deadline thru 1000s & thous&s of xlnt entrys submitted from evry town & omlet of the 4 seas and 7 corners of the world your editors r barely able to announce..." etc. Without consistency, the J sometimes used y for "long i" and sometimes indicated it by e after the consonant, as in "nite"; sometyms he would spell final -ed as -t when it is so pronounced, ktp. There is no truth in the rumor that his purpose in all this was to make English so rational that we wouldn't need to learn Esperanto. from Fancyclopedia 2 Supplement ca. 1960: The less extreme example from Ackerman is obsolete now, too. The turn of mind once expressed in this manner is now exploited in the punnery of Famous Monsters of Filmland, which makes Ackerman himself sick.

From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944

(Ackrmn) - Generally speaking, the spelling reforms that have been proposed by progressives from Franklin and Webster thru Theodore Roosevelt down to the present day. Fans are somewhat in advance of general practice in this regard, as evidenced by the fairly typical spelling used in this dictionary - f for ph, suppression of gh's and other silent letters, ktp - but will use orthodox spellings when following the simplifying rules would produce things so barbarous as to divert attention from the text. Even with Ackese abandoned, Ackerman carries it much further, as witness: "After sorting for days & days after the deadline thru 1000s & thous&s of xlnt entrys submitted from evry town & omlet of the 4 seas and 7 corners of the world your editors r barely able to announce" etc. Without consistency, the J sometimes uses y for "long i" and sometimes indicates it by e after the consonant, as in "nite"; sometyms he will spell final -ed as -t when it is so pronounced, ktp. There is no truth to the rumor that his purpose in all this is to make English so rational that we won't have to adopt Esperanto.

---

Fanspeak

This is a fanspeak page. Please extend it by adding information about when and by whom it was coined, whether it’s still in use, etc.