Fugghead
(1) A Fannish Term of Opprobrium[edit]
Fugghead and fugheadedness (n.) and fuggheaded (adj.) are among the microcosm's least polite ways of calling a fan an idiot or jerk.
Coined by Francis T. Laney, who gave out Fugghead certificates to those he considered deserving, this was a print euphemism for use in fanzines in the days when the Post Office felt that part of their duty was to read, rather than just deliver, the mail, and certain four-letter words were considered too obscene to go by post. In wire correspondence (which predated tape as a recording medium), where it was presumed the post awful would not go to the trouble of listening, Laney pronounced the term with the appropriate four-letter word in place of "fugg."
Current fannish use has diverged from FTL's original meaning, the G's are pronounced, and so pronounced or spelled, the term applies only to members of the sf community.
Most users would still go along with Eney's definition in Fancyclopedia 2, using the term to describe fans who are particularly oafish boors or argumentative jerks, though Dr. Gafia believed fugghead had implications of behavior so far beyond the pale with respect to fandom that even the most liberal of fans would be inclined to raise an eyebrow over it:
Claude Degler, for example, while he had a number of cockamamie notions, was considered a fugghead because he stole from the fans who hosted him when he traveled around the country; George Wetzel was generally disliked for his bigotry but was considered a fugghead because he wrote poison pen letters to the employers of fans he disliked. (Laney tried to limit the term to fans whose fuggheadedness completely overshadowed their positive characteristics.)
With time the meaning has continued to soften to the point that today many fans use the word to describe a fellow fan who is not necessarily deliverable evil, but who is a persistent blockhead in a why that hurts fellow fans or fandom. So, like the similar mundane expletive, fugghead isn't as startlingly offensive as it once was (unless you happen to be the person it's applied to.) Try not to merit it.
| From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959 |
| (Laney) A close relative of the LMJ. Laney recognized fuggheads with presentations of a Fan-Dango Award (certificate below). A fugghead is someone who usually speaks before thinking, in an officious and annoying manner -- and won't stop. Tucker defined the fugghead as "a lout fond of asinine statements, silly assertions, and fraudulent claims; an oaf with a babbling tongue."
Fuggheads also do stupid and asinine things as well as merely saying them. (The practice of holding conversations while leaning in doorways so as to block easy entrance and exit may be far too common in fandom to be worthy of being called fuggheaded.) Note: people who loudly state that of course they aren't fuggheads... probably are. (And so, of course, are most fans at times, depending on the topic of conversation.) Art Rapp's Not-Poem summed it up: See the happy fugghead: He doesn't give a Foo! Sometimes I am a fugghead! (But that is DNQ.) |
(2) A Fanzine by Dan Steffan[edit]
A fanzine published by Dan Steffan. As he introduces it:
Fugghead is a fanzine where the literary le zombies of fannish lore come back to life. After years spent neglected in the dark corners of boxes, basements, and attics, these orphaned manuscripts and leftover fanzine contributions have been waiting for a chance to be rediscovered—a chance to finally be read and enjoyed by an audience still lively enough to appreciate them. This fanzine is dedicated to that proposition. I like to call it Fannish Archaeology. It's a search and rescue operation, but with staples. Many fans have these kinds of forgotten nuggets and gems in their files and it's become my job, and my pleasure, to dig them up and present them to you. Often they've been left behind when a fanzine has unexpectedly had to call it a day, or given up the ghost, or its editor has discovered girls. Whatever the reason, Fugghead is here to offer new life to stuff written on old paper. (Have you got any? Let us know.) One note: This may be the new age of the internet tubes, but this is an old skool fanzine. Print it out—otherwise that stuff up there about the staples won't make any sense. Read and enjoy.
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