sercon

Having a serious intellectual approach to science fiction; literary; scholarly; studious.

Adjective

  1. Having a serious intellectual approach to science fiction; literary; scholarly; studious.
    • Puns and similar witticisms are irrepressibly scattered all thru fan writings, even the most sercon. - 1959, Richard "Dick" Harris Eney, Fancyclopedia II, Humor:
    • Stephen Pickering's observations regarding the dilemma of the sercon fan confronted with an undercurrent of unorganized anti-intellectualism in APA fan-circles is a particularly brilliant, valid, and wholly justifiable...
    • Its contents were sercon. There were interviews with Fearn, Eric Frank Russell, and Festus Pragnell, it took great interest in Campbell's future plans for his prozines, and it ran photographs of rocket experiments. -...
  2. Taking science fiction too seriously; boring; pompous; self-important.
    • Carl even established a false identity for himself (!!) as "Norman Sanfield Harris" a sercon-fuggheaded type. - 1959, Dick Emey, Fancyclopedia II, Carl Joshua Brandon:
    • This seems to have been a sercon, dull group for the first few years. - 1969, Harry Warner, Jr., All Our Yesterdays, page 247:
    • This flyer arrived in early December, all in Spanish and seems very sercon, even pompous, but the reptiloid alien on the front is suitably silly. - 1995 July, It Goes On The Shelf, number 14:

Origin

Clipping of serious and constructive.

Forms

more sercon most sercon

Noun

  1. A sercon fan; a fan interested in intellectual, rather than fannish, matters.
    • The sercons and Socially Conscious types smothered them in significant issues and realistic views. Without their fannish counterparts to balance them, these types swiftly went to extremes in Serious Discussion, until...
    • But let's suppose your fan activities are confined to writing scholarly treatises on the Sources Used by H.P. Lovecraft in creating his Cthulhu Mythos, or deadly-serious lit-ry criticism of the latest Ace paperbacks...
    • Sercons tend not to have masquerades or pay much attention to media fandom. They don't ban fun, however. - 2002, Justine Larbalestier, The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction:
  2. A sercon activity; a serious and scholarly activity.
    • It's currently possible for true devotees to find a science fiction convention to goe^([sic]) to fifty-two weekends a year; often there will be up to a half-dozen choices, ranging from large, general conventions, to...
    • He's somewhat gafiated from 'Fusion, because he wants to start a sercon in Detroit (and because of his new S.O.) but he still goes to parties & cons. - 1995 May 19, Chad Childers, “Re: Fandom just the same as always”,...

Forms

sercons