There's a new research tool available for scholars and people interested in the evolution of language – The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.
This site is a historical dictionary of the vocabulary of science fiction. It is edited (and coded) by Jesse Sheidlower, formerly the Editor at Large of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). It was previously an official project of the OED, aimed at crowdsourcing research materials; now it is an independent dictionary itself. While it is being run with OED approval, and we maintain an informal association (and maintain British practices of spelling, typographic features, and date formatting), it is no longer formally connected to the OED.
This site is a work in progress, meant to illustrate the core vocabulary of science fiction; it also aims to cover several related fields, such as critical terms relating to science fiction (and other genres of imaginative fiction such as fantasy and horror), and the vocabulary of science-fiction fandom. While most entries are complete, a small number remain mostly unresearched or unedited; we also maintain a fairly extensive list of entries for potential inclusion. It is hoped that the site will grow to include subfields or related areas, such as gaming, comics, or anime/manga. Editing will be open to dedicated moderators, and we are actively recruiting volunteers who would like to be involved. Please see How to Help for details.
This is a fun site to browse, especially if you are a science fiction fan. What I found most striking was the number of words that have crept into common usage and that originated in science fiction or fantasy stories. The dictionary also includes words that are specific to science fiction fandom; for example: croggled, apa, gafiate.
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