neofan n.

a newly recruited or newly active fan

Fancyclopedia


SF Fandom

  • 1944 in Midge (#3) 2 page image

    Laney and Ron Clyne spent Sunday December 26 visiting author Albert DePina and neofan June Harris.

  • 1950 L. Hoffman Chaos in Quandry Oct. 5

    COMING NEXT ISH: A department devoted to the BNF of tomorrow. 'Twill be the neofan of today who is the Tucker or Laney of tomorrow.

  • 1956 R. Bloch Some of Best Fans are Friends in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Sept. 55/2 Robert Bloch bibliography

    Anyone who dips into an assortment of typical fanzines will find a bewildering array of neologisms and โ€˜running gags.โ€™ He will learn the distinction between acti-fans (a portmanteau word which means just what you might suspect) and fake-fans (a term of mild contempt directed at those harmless parasites who hang around the fringes, reading but never writing for fanzines, attending conventions but seldom participating in the program or in the social activities). He will also encounter the neo-fan (a newcomer to the field) and the insurgents (the fun-loving crowd, who often delight in baiting those who take their hobby more seriously).

  • 1959 R.H. Eney Fancyclopedia II 50 Dick Eney bibliography

    Since then it has been an open secret and Jacob Edwards has been used by various fen as a serconfanfiction character, usually as a good-natured neofan.

  • 1962 D. Franson Key to the Terminology of Science-Fiction Fandom 9 Donald Franson bibliography

    Neofan, Neo, new fan, usually only such for a few months.

  • 1977 S. Wood Propellor Beanie in Algol Spring 43/1

    I was a neofan, trying hard to be a real published fan, and Ginjerโ€™s account of WPSFAโ€™s descent on the Baycon made me fell that I'd been there too.

  • 1988 S. McCrumb Bimbos of Death Sun vii. 82 Sharyn McCrumb bibliography

    I heard a couple of neofans boasting that they were going to have breakfast with him!

  • 1991 L. Niven, J. Pournelle, & M. Flynn Fallen Angels 91 Larry Niven Michael F. Flynn Jerry Pournelle bibliography

    โ€˜I just dropped in recently.โ€™ A neofan, then.

  • 2014 K. Anderson Living and Working with Poul Anderson in Multiverse 93 page image Karen Anderson bibliography

    Fewer than 1,000 were present, and it was easy for writer or neofan to talk to leading editors and prominent writers: John W. Campbell, Anthony Boucher, Willy Ley, L. Sprague de Camp, Robert Bloch.


Research requirements

antedating 1944

Research History
Bill Mullins submitted a 1950 cite from "Chaos" by Lee Hoffman.
Malcolm Farmer submitted a 1977 cite from a column by Susan Wood, 'Propellor Beanie'.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1956 cite from an article by Robert Bloch, "Some of my Best Fans Are Friends"
Fred Galvin submitted a 1959 cite from Dick Eney's "Fancyclopedia II".
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2014 cite from Karen Anderson.
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 1944 cite from the fanzine Midge.

In addition to antedatings, we would like to see further cites of any date.

Last modified 2021-03-19 20:23:12
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.