The oblique stroke: renaming slash

[cubfanbudwoman]

"Tim Regan" wrote:

> I was chatting with an old friend at the weekend. He's a head-
teacher
> but still teaches an English class. We've been arguing about the
> creative merits of fan-fiction (I was defending it, though I don't 
get
> time to read any). One thing I mentioned was slash: erotic 
fanfiction
> based on the homosexual pairing of characters. Slash fiction is 
called
> slash fiction because of the oblique stroke written between the
> character's names, e.g. Sirius/James. Wouldn't it have been better 
if
> the various communities involved had picked up the English name 
for '/'
> rather than the American? Somehow if it was called "oblique stroke
> fiction" it would conjure up far more sympathetic connotations than
> "slash fiction", which sounds like something from a horror movie.
>
> Cheers,
> Dumbledad.


You know, Dumbledad, I confess I did not know that this was the 
origin of the term.  

I have to agree with you.  "Slash" does sound like "Friday the 13th, 
Part LXXIV" or "Texas Chainsaw Massacre."  I'd never heard the 
term "oblique stroke," which does seem a little awkward put 
into "oblique stroke fiction," but at *least* it would've been nice 
if the full American term of "forward slash" had been used instead of 
just "slash."  Forward implying forward-thinking, of course. ;-)

Siriusly Snapey Susan