There is no I in Team.

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

What does the "I" in "LOTRIPS" stand for?

Edited to Add: After several replies suggesting that the "I" is a phonetic thing, there has yet to be a difinitive answer. Surely there's a proper answer for it. It wouldn't matter if it were just a typo that caught on, sort of like "pwned." But I must know!

Comments

[swear-jar.livejournal.com]

I second that question, 'cause I have no idea.

[lovinlupin46.livejournal.com]

Same here...

[mysteriousaliwz.livejournal.com]

Ditto!

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

Quick! Spread the word!

[crimson-stained.livejournal.com]

i think that since LOTRRPS sounds a lot like Lotrips (which rolls off the tongue) that's just what it became.

But really, I'm not sure either.

[v-greyson.livejournal.com]

my hunch:
it was orginally written LOTRiPS, with the lowercase i basically just joining LOTR and RPS.
LOTR RPS
became
LOTRRPS
became
LOTRiPS
see how much prettier the last one is?

but i could be wrong.

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

Find a way to be right. I need to know. *cries*

[cynical-terror.livejournal.com]

Omg, someone has to know for sure. I thought I was the only clueless one.

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

Nope, you are most definitely not alone. Help me ask around!

[metaphoracle.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, it's the phonetic theory.

LOTRRPS spoken = LOTRIPS.

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that makes sense. But not everything that's simple or obvious is true, and it's frustrating not knowing for sure. After a day of Googling for the vaguest hints, I'm still emptyhanded.

[green-queen.livejournal.com]

I've always though it was just phonetic too, to make it easier to say. There's a hell of a lot of letters in LOTR RPS.

[el-erzulie.livejournal.com]

Yup, I asked this exact thing to someone the other day and that's what they said... hmmm.

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

Gasp! Does that person know for sure?

[el-erzulie.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to remember who it was. *L* But basically it just makes it pronouncible, so you can actually say it. They're .. one of those informed individuals so I just assumed they were right. *L* I'll have to do a great big shout out on my journal, now. :D

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

Help me find out for sure!

[el-erzulie.livejournal.com]

Alrighty! :)

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

Mwahaha! And thus our numbers grow.

[el-erzulie.livejournal.com]

A cunning plan. *cackles* I've asked now, hopefully the person who told me remembers doing so. :D

[el-erzulie.livejournal.com]

Hullo again! Nobody replied to my post. =/ I might have asked someone on a community, after all. Either way... it seems the only sensible answer. :D

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

Yep--apparently. I found a glossory of fandom/fan fiction terms, and the entry for "LOTRIPS" says that it's the slang version of LOTR RPS. A most unsatisfying answer, but whatever. lol

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

True, yet I prefer spelling it out.

[glendaglamazon.livejournal.com]

I think it's obvious that it's the phonetic thing, however, it's fun to assign a meaning to the "i." How about "Lord of the Rings Real (Imaginary) Person Slash" = Lotrips?

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

I'm okay with whatever explanation so long as its definitive. The "I" has to have come from somewhere.

[zahz87.livejournal.com]

i've been wondering that too coz it makes more sence to say LOTRRPS but i've been seeing LOTRIPS everywhere and i just couldn't figure out what the I ment!!!

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

That's what I'm saying! I didn't even notice the "I" until recently. I just thought it was always, "LOTRRPS." Hell, those are the words I query for in Google. But then bam, one day I noticed the "I." It's haunted me every since.

[infinitude.livejournal.com]

gaaah, its on the tip of my tongue..

Aha! I can't remember whether somebody said this in seriousness or as a joke but 'LOTRiPS' as in tripping on lots of LOTR RPS? *shrugs*

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

lol That's actually a funny term if used in that context. But still, the mysterious origin of that "I" is frustrating me to no end.

[greedy_dancer]

i was just thinking about it in the train earlier ! about how cool it sounded :
"what are you doing?
"oh, i'm lottripping ..."
LOL
the person who coined the name probably didn't think about it, but who cares ?

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

I care! I mean, it may seem pointless to others, but not to me. It's not like I'm expecting the "I" to explain the origin of life, but I want it to explain itself! Stupid, rebellious vowel.

[greedy_dancer]

well, i suppose that unless we track the term back to its first use (and that's gonna be tough) or the first persons who used it, we're never going to know .
even though, after all, Lotrips can't be that old, right ? there has to be someone around here who was there at the beginning of all things ...
;)

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

Once upon a time, Illuvatar created the Ainur, and from the Ainur's song created the world--but, lo, one dumbass Ainur sang one note incorrectly and from that error created the mysterious "I" in all that is LOTRIPS.

And that's enough Tolkien geekiness from this guy. :P

[birdsflying]

er, ancient fandom person here. I can't remember where it came from, I mean, I know when the LotR RPS list started up (dec '01 or about there), people called it Lotrps or lo-trps (which I can find in some of my earlier files/journal entries as well) and then the dash was dropped and it just became lotrips because of the ease of pronoucing it.

It's a hell of a lot easier to say "lotrips" than to say "L-o-t-r r-p-s"

Now, if I could just find the first fic I ever read in this fandom.(It had no author and was emailed between people. It was meant to be Elijah's diary.)

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

You're probably right. I did find an on-line glossary of fandom terms, and the entry for "LOTRIPS" claims that the term is the slang form of "LOTR RPS."

Which is too bad, because I was hoping for a more glamorous explanation. lol

[bungee.livejournal.com]

You know, this post made me feel infinitely better about my stupidity, because I was just asking a friend about this last night, and neither of us could figure it out. o.o; Interesting that no one seems to know for sure.

[bronzeskin.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's stupidity, at all. And we're valid in asking. I personally refuse to take things as they are or settle for hunches. lol Gotta know for sure--ask around.