space opera
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English
Etymology
Coined by fan and writer Wilson "Bob" Tucker in 1941. The term was originally derived from the term horse opera to describe a specific, hackneyed science fiction writing style.
Noun
space opera (countable and uncountable, plural space operas)
- (initially derogatory) A subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes space travel, romantic adventure, and larger-than-life characters often set against vast exotic settings.
- 1941 January, "Bob" Tucker, Le Zombie[1], number 36, page 9:
- SUGGESTION DEPT: In these hectic days of phrase-coining, we offer one. Westerns are called "horse operas", the morning housewife tear-jerkers are called "soap operas". For the hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn space-ship yarn, or world-saving for that matter, we offer "space opera"
- A subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that uses serialization.
- (countable) A work or production in this style.
Descendants
- → Dutch: ruimteopera (calque)
- → German: Weltraumoper (calque)
Translations
subgenre of speculative fiction
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subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that utilizes serialisation
|
a work or production
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See also
Spanish
Alternative forms
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English.
Pronunciation
Noun
space opera f (plural space operas)
Usage notes
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Categories:
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English multiword terms
- English derogatory terms
- English terms with quotations
- en:Film genres
- en:Genres
- en:Literary genres
- en:Science fiction
- Spanish terms borrowed from English
- Spanish unadapted borrowings from English
- Spanish terms derived from English
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish multiword terms
- Spanish feminine nouns
- es:Genres
- es:Science fiction