>>REAL science fiction affecionados NEVER use the term "sci fi."<<
Is that a distinction without a difference ?
It's a fine but useful distinction. "Sci-fi" is as SF is imaginned by outsiders.
The kind of people who say: "thanks Gene for showing your idea Star Trek. But we've decided to go with a similar show Lost on Space"
Although mainly space-opera, Star Trek had asopirations of, and occasionally achieved Science Fiction. Lost on Space never aimaed to be and was never more than skiffy.