GAFMOI:
Getting Away From Most Of It. Dropping most fan activity but making an exception or two by hanging on to a small part of it, i.e., a FAPA membership or attendance at some particularly enjoyable regular convention.

GAMERS:
Fans, or fringefans, who are into playing games, often at conventions, some or all of which may be of a role-playing nature and/or sf/fantasy-based.

GENZINE:
General topic and/or general circulation fanzine; in other words, usually not an apazine but one available to whomever the editor cares to give or mail it to, even sometimes including subscribers. This can get confusing because sometimes the editor of a genzine will become a member of an apa and thereafter circulate the zine through the apa AS WELL as his/her own general mailing list. Or an apazine can ALSO be circulated to a large number of people outside the apa (when WARHOON won its Hugo, it was a SAPSzine that had outside general circulation, e.g.) :: Alternatively, the "gen" (short for "general") may refer to type of material published—-a mixture of fannish and sercon, e.g. (rb)

GERBERIZE:
Archaic. After 1950s-60s fan Les Gerber. In his early teens, in the pages of CRY OF THE NAMELESS, Les defended someone so ineptly and to such excess that "to Gerberize" became the fannish verb defining this practice while "to be Gerberized" meant having the practice performed on you. It has to be so overblown that even the person being defended would have to admit that if s/he believed everything said in the defense, s/he would wind up liking him/herself a little less as a result of having read it. In a very large sense, the term is unfair to Gerber, who learned from the experience and never repeated it. During the Breen boondoggle there were those in the Opposition who characterized Les's defense of Walter Breen as Gerberization in an attempt to prejudice people before they read it--and it was actually quite sound. (rb)

GESTAFAX:
A device for cutting special Gestetner mimeograph stencils which enabled the user to print illustrations with heavy dark areas or even screened photographs via mimeo. The illustrative material and the stencil are placed side by side on the rotary "drum" of the device; when turned on, the drum begins to turn and a photoelectric scanner begins moving from left to right, slowly scanning the illustration, and every time a black area is registered the stylus cuts the stencil at the corresponding spot. When fans first started using Gestafax, they would usually pack as many illustrations/photos as they could on a white legal-sized surface, and have this Gestafaxed by a professional service; they would then cut the stencil into as many parts as there were illos or photos and use stencil cement to "paste" them in the proper place on a typed stencil--on which space for the illustration had been cut away. Over the years, some fans bought their own Gestafax equipment, and when the per-stencil cost dropped from $7-$8 to around $1-$2, many simply gestafaxed entire pages of type AND illustrations together rather that go through this cut-and-paste process. Oddly enough, although Gestafax made it possible to mimeo large dark areas, the use led to a great appreciation of the craft of hand-stenciling and the use of shading plates. (rb)

GESTETNER:
An English brand of mimeograph that for many years was unavailable in the U.S. because they were so much better than American brands. Where US models has cotton ink pads, the Gestetner utilizes a silk screen; where American mimeos rely on internal brushes and centrifugal force (or, on cheaper machines, outside applications with a brush) to spread ink around, the Gestetner uses sophisticated waver rollers; the Gestetner also has a sophisticated method of adjustment that allows for better registration (where the print area will hit on the page), which made it superior for two- and three-color work. In the Early Years, when not very many fans had them, it was devoutly believed in some circles that it was "impossible" to get bad repro from a Gestetner, but fans soon rose to that challenged and proved once again that nothing is truly impossible. (AS)

GHU:
Fannish Ghod invented by Donald Wollheim and John B. Michel in the 30's. Wollheim was the personification of Ghu on earth. Ghu's holy color is purple because Ghuist publish using spirit duplicators or hectographs and the primary ditto/hecto carbon is purple. Stuart C. Hellinger raises a disturbing question, namely, whether Ghu and Barney are related--possibly even a reincarnation or new avatar--inasmuch as Barney IS purple.... Note: Ghu and GhuGhu are one and the same. Likewise Foo and FooFoo. (rb)

GOH:
Guest of Honor.

GOSHWOW:
Enthusiastic, perhaps a little too much so. A shortening of "Goshwowoboyoboy!", the title under which Time Magazine ran a sneering and condescending report of a World sf convention. (rb)

GOTH:
Gothic. A subgenre whose fans ("Goths") are typefied by interest in vampires, wearing all black, reading the Sandman comic, and listening to Bauhaus or Alien Sex Fiend. (SD)

GREAT BIRD OF THE GALAXY, THE:
Sobriquet of Gene Roddenbery, creator and producer of Star Trek, among trekkers and trekkies. (SD)

GREAT SPIDER, THE:
A fannish god. Deity of the latter-day fannish religion of "Spiderism". The Great Spider eats peoples' souls when they die, unless they have paid an appropriate bribe to a priest of the Great Spider. He has also been known to eat cars in order to provide parking spaces to particularly devout followers. (KR)

GUFF:
GUFF was dreamed up by Chris Priest in 1977 to complete the triangle of fan funds and bring a first Down Under fan to Britain for the 1979 Worldcon. (DUFF makes the exchange between Australia/New Zealand and North America, while TAFF does the deed between NA and Europe [although generally the UK]). Without the tiresome business of actually having a free trip anywhere, Dave Langford (UK) and Leigh Edmonds (in Australia) were the first administrators. John Foyster was the first winner, and it seemed rather a nice idea to continue. The name DUFF being already taken, Chris imagined GUFF as standing for the Get Up-and-over Fan Fund, which didn't sound so brilliant when time came to do a southward trip, but as Don Marquis (who never stood for the fund either) so aptly put it, you can't have everything. [This description provided by Dave Langford with the admonition that I should mark it "Copyright (c) Astral Leauge 1979 - do not impinge copyright or the Leauge will take MEASURES.") (RH)

HECTO:
Hectograph; a primitive means of text and illustrative reproduction, not much used after the 1940s, involving making a bed of gelatin, transferring a special carbon ink to the gelatin and then laying on and picking up pieces of paper. Upwards of 50 copies might be made in this fashion, of which perhaps 15 were at least borderline legible. Not to be confused with Ditto, although both used the same type of carbon inks. (rb)

(HH,OK):
"Ha Ha, Only Kidding." A parenthetical comment following an insulting remark intended to remove the sting. Seems to have originated in Minneapolis fandom. (KR)

HOAX:
It is a special tradition in fandom to fake things, like persons (Carl Joshua Brandon; Carl J. Brandon, Jr.), fanzines (PLOY #1), conventions (Invention) or deaths (Bob Tucker has "died" several times). Should be done with care. Hoax deaths, not at all; they're not really funny and are often harmful; a Tucker death hoax brought about the end of the Great Staple War and a Willis death hoax nearly ruined the WAW With The Crew in '52 campaign. (rb)

HOGU:
Informal anti Hugos (see HUGO) in which the worst, rather than the best, Novels, Novelettes, Magazines, Editors, &c., of the year are chosen. Usually involves a group of fans attending the Worldcon who organize themselves to go out to a McDonald's (or other cheapo fast food emporium of similar, ah, quality) where they then "vote" for their "favorites". Since they are informal and negative awards, votes cost a minimum of one buck.

HUGO:
Formerly the informal name (after Hugo Gernsback, publisher of the first all stf magazine AMAZING STORIES) of the Science Fiction Achievement Awards, now the formal name of the former Science Fiction Achievement Awards, given out each year at the World Science Fiction Convention. Regular categories are Best Novel, Best Novelette, Best Short Story, Best Editor, Best Semi Prozine, Best Professional Artist, Best Fanzine, Best Fan Writer and Best Fan Artist; the Convention Committee can and often does name a "special" category each year. (KR)

IGNATZ:
The beloved of Krazy Kat, a brick-throwing mouse, became a fannish ghod in the early '50s. High Priestess was Nan Share, who wound up married to Art Rapp, one of the founders of Roscoe-ism. (rb)

INSURGENTS:
The "original" fannish Insurgents were Charles Burbee and Francis T. Laney, and the subject of their insurgency was the FIAWOL lifestyle then practiced by many members of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society a.k.a. LASFS. Laney and Burbee both were advocates of FIJAGH. (rb)

INTERLINEATION:
See LINO.

ISH:
Archaic. Short for "issue" (of a fanzine). Usually in the phrase, "Pub your ish!" (rb)

JO(E) PHAN:
The archetype for a fan (from Bob Tucker's "Joe Fann"). Jophan is the main character in Walt Willis' and Bob Shaw's famous faaanfiction allegory THE ENCHANTED DUPLICATOR, which in turn is a kind of "Pilgrim's Progress" of fanzine fandom. (rb)