Science fiction is what we point to when we say it  

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"Science fiction is what we point to when we say it" is a dictum by Damon Knight first published in Knight's first review column for Lester del Rey's Science Fiction Adventures (November, 1952) and was later collected in In Search of Wonder (1956). It is known as the ostensive definition of science fiction, see definitions of science fiction.

The full quote reads:

"That the term 'science fiction' is a misnomer, that trying to get two enthusiasts to agree on a definition of it leads only to bloody knuckles; that better labels have been devised (Heinlein's suggestion, 'speculative fiction', is the best, I think), but that we're stuck with this one; and that it will do us no particular harm if we remember that, like 'The Saturday Evening Post', it means what we point to when we say it."

This definition is now usually seen in abbreviated form as "Science fiction is [or means] what we point to when we say it."





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