FIAWOL
(Did you mean a Joyce and Arnie Katz fanzine?)
Pronounced "FEE-a-wall" or "FIE-a-wall," an initialism for "Fandom is a Way of Life" has become a motto of actifen, used proudly, disgustedly, apologetically, or how you will, depending on the mood and attitude of the user. It contrasts to the insurgent counter, FIJAGH, "Fandom is Just a Goddamn Hobby," the philosophy of dilettante fans. Fans have emblazoned "FIAWOL" on everything from interlineations to bumper stickers to vanity license plates.
We don’t know who first used the initialism, but the phrase originated as the title of a tongue-in-cheek article by Don B. Thompson in FAPA in 1943, in which he pointed out some peculiar folkways in fandom. The idea that fandom and fanac were serious business was endorsed during Fifth Fandom by such fans as Al Ashley, Jack Speer and even Francis Towner Laney, and scoffed at by Charles Burbee in scurrilous, smutty verse.
Today, usually, "FIAWOL" is meant humorously; no one, after all, spends all their time at fanac. Do they?
| From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959 |
Fandom Is A Way Of Life "Fandom as a way of life", originally; it was the title of a tongue in cheek article by D. B. Thompson in which (FAPA, 1943) he pointed out some peculiar folkways in Fandom. The notion that Fandom was a serious business -- a way of life or whatever you want to call it -- was taken quite seriously by Ashley, Speer, and even Laney about this time, tho even that early they saw the defects in the concept. Since the Insurgents began debunking it with such comments as the quoted one, it has become a slogan used proudly, disgustedly, apologetically, or how you will, depending on the mood and attitude of the user. Often heard is Burbee's other counter-crack, Fandom Is Just A Goddamn Hobby (FIJAGH).
Fandom is a way of life
Where each boy is like a wife
And yet they think it odd of me
That I won't sponsor sodomy.
-- Charles Burbee
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See also: Fandom is oy vey of life.
| Fanspeak | 1943— |
| This is a fanspeak page. Please extend it by adding information about when and by whom it was coined, whether it’s still in use, etc. |
