The Origins of the Term SCI-FI

sci-fi (sI - fI) - n. Informal pl. sci-·fis. Science fiction. adj. Of, relating to, being, or similar to science fiction: a sci-fi movie; a sci-fi weapons system.

The origins of the word sci-fi

We hear the word sci-fi all the time (almost everyone gets the SCIFI Channel these days, even this site has sci-fi in its name). But before 1954 no one ever heard the word. Most people don't even know how or when the term came into use. The term was coined in 1954 by Forrest J Ackerman who was driving in his car and heard the term HI-FI on the radio and since science fiction had been on his mind (and the tip of his tongue) since 1929 when Hugo Gernsback first printed it in his magazine Science Wonder Stories, FJA came up with the term -- Sci-Fi.

SF fans had long used the term scientifiction to describe their favorite genre, but they did not take to the new term sci-fi. In fact there is still a large group who refused to deal with anyone who use the bastardization -- sci-fi. (I came across this myself while working for a web portal known as Sci-fi Jumpgate).

Many of the original people who showed disdain for the term eventually grew to embrace the term (such as authors like Bjo Trimble and Isaac Asimov). Now the term is pretty much a household word.

Source: Forrest J Ackerman's Wide Webbed World

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.