Funny you should ask. I can not only explain, but actually cite, as I just recently came across a reprint of what I believe to be the start of this linguistic distinction, a 1977 essay by Damon Knight titled "What is Science Fiction?"
...I think we ought to have a term for the crude, basic kind of s.f. that satisfies the appetite for pseudo-scientific marvels without appealing to any other portion of the intellect: I propose that we call it "sci-fi".* * Pronounced "skiffy."
This proposition caught on, at least in large parts of fandom. The "skiffy" pronunciation is still fairly rare, but always derogatory. Pronounced as "sigh-fie", it still bears much of the same meaning, but need not be derogatory -- "Star Wars is a great sci-fi movie."
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Re: Definitions?
Date: 2004-09-27 12:32 am (UTC)This proposition caught on, at least in large parts of fandom. The "skiffy" pronunciation is still fairly rare, but always derogatory. Pronounced as "sigh-fie", it still bears much of the same meaning, but need not be derogatory -- "Star Wars is a great sci-fi movie."