Joss

See also: joss and jøss

English

Etymology

Verb usage evolved from the name of Joss Whedon, creator of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔːs

Proper noun

Joss

1. A diminutive of the female given name Jocelyn.
2. A diminutive of the male given name Joseph.
3. A surname.

Verb

Joss (third-person singular simple present Josses, present participle Jossing, simple past and past participle Jossed)

1. (fandom slang, transitive) To invalidate a fan theory or original element of a fanwork through the introduction of new canon or retconning.
   • 2000 December 25, Shanna, “Holiday at the Hyperion (2/2)”, in alt.tv.buffy-v-slayer.creative‎^[1] (Usenet):

     Author's note part 2: I'm leaving it to the imagination of the reader what Cordelia saw of her future. Writing that out would be asking to be Jossed.

   • 2001 October 20, Sarah Trombley, “Re: Cut Scenes from Carpe Noctem Script”, in alt.tv.angel‎^[2] (Usenet):

     I have this pet theory which will no doubt be Jossed (Greenwalted?) sooner or later. That Wes's dad is not a Watcher, but someone wealthy and financially connected with the Council (if they have all that influence, at least some of the people involved must know who they are)--in short, some kind of profiteer in the war against the forces of evil.

   • 2005 December 5, heidi8 [username], “New Essay Archive at HPInkPot.com”, in alt.fan.harry-potter‎^[3] (Usenet):

     Even if your pet subject was "Jossed" by HBP (in other words, your theorizing was annihalated^[sic] or impacted by a canon development) we'd love to have your archival works on HPInkPot - just select "pre-HBP" in the "when was this work written?" section.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Joss.