English

Noun

skiffy ‎(uncountable)

1. (fandom slang, usually derogatory or humorous) Low-quality science fiction.
   • 1984, Hartwell, David, “The Golden Age of Science Fiction is Twelve”, in Age of Wonders, ISBN 9780802708083, page 13:

     The science fiction reader sneers at fake SF, artificially produced film tie-in novels and stories, most SF films, most TV SF. This he calls sci-fi (or "skiffy")—junk no right-thinking omnivore or chronic should read, watch, or support.

   • 1989 July, Sterling, Bruce, SF Eye, number 5, page 77:

     Many of the best new writers seem openly ashamed of their backward Skiffy nationality.

   • 1993, Nicholls, Peter, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, ISBN 9780312096182, page 1079:

     Around 1978 the critic Susan Wood and others began pronouncing the term "skiffy". In 1980s-1990s usage "skiffy", which sounds friendlier than "sci fi", has perhaps for that reason come to be less condemnatory. Skiffy is colourful, sometimes entertaining, junk sf: Star Wars is skiffy.

References

• Jeff Prucher, editor (2007) Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-530567-8, pages 186–187
• skiffy n. at the OED Science Fiction Citations Project