LASFS:
Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society. The oldest, or second oldest, regularly meeting sf club in the U.S., formerly the Los Angeles Science Fiction League. (The Pittsburgh SFL, now the PSFS, was chartered just a hair later but maintained regular meetings from the time they were chartered onward, whereas LASFS stopped meeting briefly during WWII.) (rb)

LETTERCOLS:
LETTERCOLUMNS:
Prozines used to have long ones in the pulp era, 20 pages or more published in minuscule 8 pt. type--by one theory, Fourth Fandom (during WWII, because of paper and other shortages faced by fans kept the number and frequency of fanzines to a minimum) took place mostly in the pages of the pulp prozines, mainly PLANET STORIES, STARTLING STORIES and THRILLING WONDER STORIES (the two latter referred to in shorthand form as SS and TWS). These days that kind of activity can be found only in some fanzines. (rb)

LETTERHACK:
1. (n.) A frequent contributor to letter columns. An important term in early fandom and during WWII, when much of the interaction was in prozine letter columns.
2. (v.) To contribute to letter columns.

LINO:
Interlineation. A one-liner, quote, comment or other bit placed in between lines. Usually set off from the text by underlines, dashes or other graphics. Often used to break up sections or ideas in a fanzine, e.g.:

LMJ:
Loud Mouthed Jackass. An insult, of course, on a somewhat lower order than fugghead and, thus, one which tends to be used less frequently. Too, fugghead is generally meant to describe an ongoing state of being, whereas a single specific instance of monumental stupidity goes along with LMJ. (And if you don't agree with me, you're either a fugghead or an LMJ or possibly both.) (rb)

LoC:
Letter of Comment, a letter with comment to (about) a fanzine (or, in earlier times, a prozine) or responding to things said in a fanzine via letter. Variously pronounced; some groups talk of 'LoCs' to rhyme with 'lox', others pronounce it so it rhymes with 'yellow seas'. Also 'loccing': 'I will LoC your fanzine' or 'I will be loccing your fanzine.' (rb)

MAILING COMMENTS:
('MCs') Contrary to the opinion of some, these are 'not' an invention of fandom's; they were introduced to FAPA by Dan McPhail, who got them from mundane press associations. (DE)

MASQUERADE:
They've been with us since Practically The Beginning. Forry Ackerman wore won at the (First) NY World Convention, and the first judged event was at Chicon I, perhaps better known as Worldcon II.

MELVIN:
Some latter-day FooFooists recognize Speer only as a prophet and not as Foo Incarnate. These FooFooists are followers of Melvin, the Bem of Bems, and are guided by Melvin's Words of Wisdom, e.g., 'Hang by your thumbs!' Melvin also provides helpful homilies with regard to fannish courtesy: 'Thou Shalt Not use peanut butter in lieu of ink in someone else's Gestetner.' The Church of Melvin holds that all fannish ghods are equal, although there's a slight advantage in being a Melvinite--namely, it's the only fannish church which allows you to worship other fannish ghods. (rb)

MIMEO:
A mimeograph machine, used for duplicating fanzines. The preferred choice of FooFooists. (rb)

MINAC:
1. The MINimum ACtivity requirement for an apa, usually expressed as a number of original 8.5x11-inch pages which need to be published and distributed through the apa within a given time period. In rotational apas such as The Cult, this can be even more complex; Active members have publishing requirements --they must publish a Cultzine when it comes their turn in a 'rotation'--and activity requirements, in that they must comment on at least every other Cultzine as they are published in rotation.
2. Title of a fanzine published by Ted White and Les Gerber (rb)

MOCK FEUD:
Fans have rather consistently used humor to poke fun at their own foibles. This is no where more evident than in the 'mock feud,' in which the excesses of real feuding are parodied and made fun of.
One of the earliest of these was the First Staple War, a.k.a. the Great Staple War, which got under way in 1934 when Bob Tucker formed the Society for the Prevention of Wire Staples in Science Fiction Magazines (SPWSSFM) and, shortly thereafter, Donald Wollheim formed the International Allied Organization for the Purpose of Upholding and Maintaining the Use of Metallic Fasteners in Science Fiction Publications in the United States of America, Unlimited (IAOPUMUMFSFPUSAU). The two organizations battled away good-naturedly at each other in the letter column of ASTOUNDING until some prankster hoaxed F. Orlin Tremaine, the editor, into printing a notice of Bob Tucker's death; when the editor found out what had happened, he declared an end to the silly staple stuff in Brass Tacks.
The early 'mock' religious wars between GhuGhuism and FooFooism was divided pretty much along serious feuding lines, given that Ghu's earthly incarnation was Wollheim and Foo's was Speer. This did not carry over as different fannish religions got started, and no doubt the long-term marriage (going on 40 years now) of Art Rapp, one of the three deacons of Roscoeism, to Nan Share, high priestess to the ghod Ignatz, served as an example to establish ecumenicism in the fannish religions. The Melvinist branch of FooFooism holds that 'all' fannish ghods are equal (and the only advantage to belonging to the Church of Melvin lies in the fact that it is the only fannish religion which openly acknowledges this).
One of the best mock feuds was the battle over steam between Ken Bulmer and Vincent Clarke, on the one hand, and Walt Willis and Lee Hoffman on the other. Bulmer cleverly established his claim to be the 'inventor' (a.k.a. the father) of steam during a visit Willis paid to the Epicentre; noting that the lid to his tea kettle appeared to be lifted by the strange forces that resided in the vapors produced by the boiling waters, Bulmer remarked on the possibility of someday harnessing this energy to provide transportation and other benefits to all mankind. Not long thereafter, LeeH formed Hoffmanothing to supply the needs of the Ft. Mudge Steam Calliope Company. Vincent Clarke, acting as Bulmer's m/o/u/t/h/p/i/e/c/e/ barrister, sent notice to Ms. Hoffman that this was a clear infringement of Mssr. Bulmer's patent or copyright or whatever it was. Rather than pay the fees suggested by Clarke, however, Ms. Hoffman retained the services of Walter Alexandrew Willis, whose legal expertice may be gauged by the fact that his firm had apparently never heard of the concept of 'conflict of interests'--he was one of her columnists, so he wound up representing her. As is usually the case when matters turn litigious, no real 'results' were obtained by either side, and although Hoffman and Bulmer managed (without the aid of legal counsel) to reach enough agreement to form an international group to supply white steam for general use, aka "Fair Steam," clearly the edge was off. The legal exchanges were really only so much hot air--but that, of course, is a vital element in the production of steam. Thus, neither firm managed to capture the markets they should have, as witness the fact that NASA went on to utilize those dreadfully expensive liquid-fuel rockets and, in all the world, there's not a single steam-powered computer to be had. (rb/DE/DF)

MUNDANE :
1. (n.) Someone who is not a fan. ('He is a mundane; they are mundanes.')
2. (adj.) Pertaining to the world outside fandom. The dictionary definition is 'common, ordinary'.
3. (N.) Mundane is also the name of the country Jophan lives in until he is inspired by the Spirit of Fandom to seek Trufandom on the other side of the Mountains of Inertia in THE ENCHANTED DUPLICATOR. (rb)

N'APA:
An apa which was formed for publishing members of the National Fantasy Fan Federation (a.k.a. N3F); several prominent fans joined the N3F for the first time just to participate, which was the source of some amusement until the knowledgeable President of the N3F warned off the members of the N3F's welcoming committee, who through naivete were 'welcoming' to fandom people who had been active in the greater microcosm for decades. Not to be confused with NAPA [see below]. (rb)

NAPA:
One of the largest and oldest 'mundane' apas; although many fans have been members, and some formerly prominent fans have come into our microcosm through this association (Bill Danner, Helen Wesson, e.g.), it is primarily a club for amateur printers rather than amateur writers. (rb)

NASFIC:
The North American Science Fiction Convention; the national convention whenever the Worldcon leaves the North American continent. The NASFIC is held as a kindof substitute for US fans who can't make it to the overseas Worldcon. See also 'Noncon'; the major difference being that the location of the NASFIC is voted upon by Worldcon members when they send the Worldcon overseas. (SB)

NEBULA:
(1) The 'Best of' awards given out at the annual meetings of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
(2) Scottish prozine (41 issues, Aug'52 - Aug'59) which regularly featured ATom art and 'Fanorama', a fannish column by Walt Willis. Also published first pro stories of Bob Shaw, Robert Silverberg, and Brian Aldiss.
(3) UK fanzine (12 issues, Jan'74 - Sep'77) ed. Dave H. Taylor. (RH)

NEGOBOO:
Negative egoboo; criticism. This is to egoboo what 'Die soon and wither' is to 'Live long and prosper.' (rb)

NEOFAN:
A new, inexperienced or unknowlegable fan. Not necessarily a pejorative in fanzine fandom, although some people appear to think so or act as if they did. The neofan, however, is the only source of future potential BNFs. In Bjo Trimble's classic 'The Littlest Neofan,' the Littlest Neo cannot compete with the writing/drawing prowess of older, more experienced fanzine fans, nor can he equal their abilities in the mechanics of publishing, but the gift he brings to anything he does is ultimately shown to be one which fandom cannot long survive without--the neo's sense of wonder. (rb)

NEOPRO:
Anyone who has sold very few stories and hasn't been at it long. (KR)

NETZINE:
See EZINE. (KR)

NEWBIE:
Net equivalent of 'neofan'. (KR)

NEWSZINE:
A fanzine with news of interest to the fannish community. Sercon newszines have news primarily of the professional community with fannish news sometimes thrown in for good measure; fannish newszines have news primarily of fandom with professional news sometimes thrown in for good measure. (rb)

NONCON:
A gathering of fans, most often at someone's home, during all or part of the Labor Day weekend, for those who cannot go to the Worldcon or NASFIC (for financial or other reasons) but who nonetheless feel restless about not meeting with other fans on Roscoe's birthday. The Noncon is simply declared and has no official recognition from the Worldcon or the NASFIC. Noncons are most likely to be held on the 'opposite' coast when a Worldcon or NASFiC is being held on either the Left or Right Coast, thus appealing to fans who cannot afford the cross- country trip. A second variety of NonCon exists on a fairly regular basis--a July 4 weekend affair in LA when the Westercon is being held in some more exotic location, such as San Francisco, Seattle, Denver or even Boise. (rb/DF)

NON-STOPARAGRAPHING:
Once popular in fanzines, now seldom seen; instead of indenting five spaces for each paragraph, the first paragraph begins flush left, the following paragraph begins one line down and two spaces past the last character in the last line of the preceding paragraph. In other words, if I wanted to start a new nonstoparagraph with this sentence, the word 'in' would be indented precisely the same number of spaces from the left-hand margin as it is now, but it would be on the line where the word 'new' presently is the first word. (I'd try to demonstrate it for you, but different news readers provide different 'looks'-- some are in proportionally spaced type, some not--so what would work for one would not work for the other.) (rb)

NUMBERED FANDOMS:

NYDAHL'S DISEASE:
Also know as "Annishthesia". A particular kind of gafia or fafia with overtones of "burnout". The specific case for which the disease is named involved a young fan named Joel Nydahl, who published a monthly fanzine called VEGA which became something of a mini-focal point after QUANDRY folded. For the first anniversary issue, Nydahl knocked himself out producing a 100pp annish--a rare accomplishment in those days, particularly for a 16-year-old--but it apparently got little in the way of response and the young fan editor promptly gafiated, puzzled and dismayed. It would appear, however, that in coming up with the disease, some assumptions were made that were not warranted; the actual truth is, friends of Nydahl have stated that he had been falling behind at school while publishing his fanzine and dropped out of fandom not in disgust at the poor response his final effort received but because he was entering college and had to stop letting his grades fall. (rb)