> A few queries: how and when did the term "outer space" come into common
> English usage? Has it changed meaning over time? And for Mr. Rossi (or
> anyone else): how is it usually translated in Italian, and in any other
> languages you might know?
>
> Thanks!
>
Eh, bel problema!
I think you have exposed a rather puzzling problem of translation
here. Usually they--i.e. Italian translators--simplify it by
translating it with "spazio" which corresponds perfectly to the
English term "space". What about the "outer"? generally it is
omitted, but in some (rare) cases I have found "spazio esterno". A
literal translation of a phrase which, as far as I know, has no clear
meaning in English, has it? And now that I think of it, sometime I
have found "spazio profondo", which means "deep space": this is
clearly a marine metaphor (i.e. the space is seen like a sea of sorts).
I always thought that "outer space" was a fine specimen of Sfnal
jargon, something authors use because it *sounds* Sfnal, like the
"interstellar overdrive", the "hyperspace", the "needlebeam", and
some wonderful terms you can find in J. Campbell's Aarn Munro
stories. Am I wrong? Is there a technical/schientific meaning of
outer space?
But here probably the Sf writers in the list will have something more
to say.
Umberto Rossi
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