Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Joss
Joss
(jŏs)
, Noun.
[Chinese, corrupt. fr. Pg.
deos
God, L. deus
.] A Chinese household divinity; a Chinese idol.
“Critic in jars and josses.” Colman (1761).
Joss house
, a Chinese temple or house for the Chinese mode of worship.
– Joss stick
, a reed covered with a paste made of the dust of odoriferous woods, or a cylinder made wholly of the paste; – burned by the Chinese before an idol.
Definition 2024
Joss
Joss
English
Proper noun
Joss
- A diminutive of the female given name Jocelyn.
- A diminutive of the male given name Joseph.
Verb
Joss (third-person singular simple present Josses, present participle Jossing, simple past and past participle Jossed)
- (fandom slang, transitive) To invalidate a fan theory or original element of a fanwork through the introduction of new canon or retconning.
- 2000 December 25, Shanna, “Holiday at the Hyperion (2/2)”, in alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer.creative, Usenet:
- Author's note part 2: I'm leaving it to the imagination of the reader what Cordelia saw of her future. Writing that out would be asking to be Jossed.
- 2001 October 20, Sarah Trombley, “Re: Cut Scenes from Carpe Noctem Script”, in alt.tv.angel, Usenet:
- I have this pet theory which will no doubt be Jossed (Greenwalted?) sooner or later. That Wes's dad is not a Watcher, but someone wealthy and financially connected with the Council (if they have all that influence, at least some of the people involved must know who they are)--in short, some kind of profiteer in the war against the forces of evil.
- 2005 December 5, heidi8 [username], “New Essay Archive at HPInkPot.com”, in alt.fan.harry-potter, Usenet:
- Even if your pet subject was "Jossed" by HBP (in other words, your theorizing was annihalated[sic] or impacted by a canon development) we'd love to have your archival works on HPInkPot - just select "pre-HBP" in the "when was this work written?" section.
- For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:Joss.
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