WTF Is an 'OTP'?: The Complex Dictionary for Movie and TV Nerd Terminology

Keep up with the times.

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Complex Original

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After an innocent search of your favorite TV show, you stumbled upon it: the Fandom. This can go one of two ways. One, you just stroll through the fan pages, enjoying fellow supporters of the show's screengrabs and GIFs. Or, two, you drown in it. You become immersed. The TV show is no longer just a TV show. It is your life. You create your own stories about the characters you love, you draw out scenarios of them and post it on Deviant Art, and you create a My Little Pony techno remix. You're so deep down the rabbit hole that by the time you start looking for an exit you realize once you enter a fandom...

And since most fandoms are centered around romance (sex!), there's some secret language to it. Like shipping isn't just something you pay on your Amazon order and Slash isn't just a guitarist. Consider this a Rosetta Stone for those who don't speak nerd fluently.

Written by Hope Schreiber (@HopeSchreiber)

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OTP, a.k.a. One True Pairing (n.)

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Canon (n.)

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Slash (n.)

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Ship (v.)

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Fan Fiction (n.)

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BrOTP, a.k.a. Bromantic One True Pairing (n.)

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Noromo (n.)

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Meta (n.)

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Feels (n.)

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"FEELS! THE FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELS!" —an actual fan's reaction of something that happened on their favorite TV show.

Nothing more has to be said. Their community understands that their emotions are so out of check that trying to put them into words is beyond impossible. Just know that they are feeling things—so many, many things.

Examples: "Watching Thor, I find it sad that Loki spends so much time wallowing in the fact that he's not Odin's favorite. He's completely missing the fact that he's Thor's favorite."

Tinhatting (v.)

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