dirtsider n.

a person who lives on a planet (in contrast to a person who lives or frequently travels in space)

  • 1984 T. Zahn Return to Fold in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact Sept. 15/2 Timothy Zahn bibliography

    Max I trust. It’s those rinks who're supposed to hold the port steady for us. They're all dirtsiders at heart, you know. Lunatics, every last one of them.

  • 1992 A. McCaffrey & M. Lackey Ship Who Searched i. 2 Anne McCaffrey Mercedes Lackey bibliography

    He decided to get married, raise a brood of his own, and settle down as a dirtsider.

  • 1998 D. Weber In Enemy Hands 463 David Weber bibliography

    Dirtsiders tended to think of starships as solid chunks of alloy wrapped around passages and compartments, but any professional spacer knew better.

  • 2001 D. Gerrold Bouncing Off Moon 26 David Gerrold bibliography

    I do not think anyone will go to Earth for a long time. I certainly will not. I have Luna muscles, Luna bones. I have no desire to be toothpick-man on planet of crazy dirtsiders.

  • 2009 Fantasy & Science Fiction Apr. 200

    We’re used to being a world unto ourselves. Dirtsiders brush past us like mayflies.

  • 2019 Y. H. Lee Dragon Pearl viii. 67 Yoon Ha Lee bibliography

    Dirtsider, huh? Well, some of the ship is automated, but you might as well learn the basics. Strap yourself in.


Research requirements

any evidence 1984

Earliest cite

Timothy Zahn, "Return to the Fold"

Research History
Jeff Prucher submitted a 2000 cite from a reprint of Anne McCaffery and Mercedes Lackey's 1992 "The Ship Who Searched".
Douglas Winston submitted a 2001 cite from David Gerrold's "Bouncing off the Moon"
Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a 1987 reprint of Timothy Zahn's "Return to the Fold": Mike Christie verified this in its first publication (Analog, September 1984)
Ralf Brown commented that he'd seen use of the term in David Weber's "In Enemy Hands", and Malcolm Farmer located cites in a 1998 reprint.
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2019 cite from Yoon Ha Lee.
Ralf Brown also suggested, from an etext, "Where Sea Meets Sky", by "Christopher Pike as recorded by Jerry Oltion": we would be interested to see the cite from a printed copy.

Last modified 2021-03-31 21:15:25
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.