> This message was written only because of my strange habit of wondering about things that probably don't matter.
>
> Sometimes I've seen Science Fiction written as, you know, Science Fiction. And sometimes it's written like Sci-fi (as in the Sci-fi channel) or SF. Personally, I call it SF because I get tired of saying "Science Fiction" over and over again.
>
> I was just wondering if Sci-fi and SF are incorrect and by saying them we garble the language terribly.
>
> Another thing. When you write Sci-fi, is the F capitalized or not? Or if it's incorrect, should I forget calling it that from now on? Or does it even matter?
>
> Or should it even be called Science Fiction? Isn't the real name Prophetic Fiction or something? Or did they just call it that in the 30s?
>
> I write Science Fiction, Sci-fi, and SF stories (whatever the heck they're called), and I like to know the real name of the genre I'm writing about. I want to have an answer when people ask "so what do you do, anyway?".
>
> Qua "obsessive about such silly things" rtz
> ~~*Q*~~
>
> PS: I'll probably start a long thread that discusses human nature and the subconscious and whatever. If so, I'll read all the posts happily but probably won't understand a thing.

My personal opinion:

I usually use "SF", because just about everyone I talk to know instantly what the "s" and the "f" are supposed to stand for. Less effort.

"Sci-fi" to me conjures up images of *bad* (or cheesy) SF, or anything sufficiently popular than non-fans will recognize it - as in bad, bad, bad, bad movies on basic cable at 3:00 am, cheap space opera novels, and anything involving the wearing of plastic ears.

I usually use "science fiction" as the term in general...

For example, Neal Stephenson is science fiction. Douglas Adams is science fiction. Isaac Asimov is science fiction. The Star Trek novels are sci-fi.

I wish I'd brought my copy of it here with me, but I didn't - Isaac Asimov wrote an essay on the different names for the genre, and for the most part I agree with him. It's in a posthumous collection, _Gold_, reprinted from some magazine or another. But it's pretty good, if you can find it.

(Where I differ from the dictionary in my usage, I firmly maintain that I am, of course, correct. ;-))

-Fob"off to rehearsal"ulis